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CATHEDRAL CITIES 






ENGLAND 



■LI 

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CANTERBURY 

THE BAPTISTERY AND CHAPTER. HOUSE 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 



OF 



ENGLAND 



BY 



GEORGE GILBERT 



ILLUSTRATED BY W. W. COLLINS, R.I. 




a — g p — | 



NEW YORK 
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 



1905 



■ 
NOV I 
It*, /a. t90S 
/ S f 7 f 



Copyright, fQOJ 
By Dodd, Mead and Company 

Published October, 1905 



THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. 



i 



,$ 



<A 



CONTENTS 

Introductory Page 3 

Canterbury ,, 17 

Durham ,, 37 

Lichfield ,, 58 

Oxford ,, 65 

Peterborough ,, 80 

St. Albans ,, 91 

Wells ,,102 

Worcester ,, 118 

Chichester ,,129 

Chester ,, 1 39 

Rochester ,,162 

Ripon ,,174 

Ely ,,183 

Gloucester „ 202 

Hereford ,, 224 

Lincoln ,,235 

Bath ,, 259 

Salisbury ,, 270 

Exeter ,, 292 

Norwich ,, 315 

London ,, 337 

York ,, 371 

Winchester ,, 397 

Westminster ,,414 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Canterbury, The Baptistery and Chapter House .... Frontispiece 

,, from the Meadows Page 19 

,, Christchurch Gateway ,, 23 

,, Cathedral, Interior of the Nave ,, 23 

,, The Norman Stairway ,, 33 

Durham, Framwellgate Bridge ,, 39 

„ from the Railway ,, 43 

,, Interior of Cathedral, looking across the Nave 

into South Transept ,, 47 

„ Elvet Bridge ,, 51 

,, Cathedral, the Western Towers ,, 55 

Lichfield Cathedral. The West Front ,, 61 

Oxford. Christ Church, Interior of Nave ,, 69 

,, ,, Gateway ,, 75 

Peterborough Cathedral. The West Front ,, 83 

The Market Place ,,87 

St. Albans. The Cathedral from the Walls of Old Verulam „ 95 

Wells Cathedral and the Pools ,,103 

,, The Cathedral from the Fields ,, 107 

,, The Ruins of the Banqueting Hall ,,113 

Worcester. The Cathedral ,,123 

Chichester Cathedral from the North- East ,, 133 

Chester. East Gate Street ,,141 

„ The Rows ,,145 

„ St. Werburgh Street ,,151 

,, Bishop Lloyd's Palace and Watergate Street . ,,157 

Rochester. The Cathedral and Castle ,,167 

Ripon. The Cathedral ,,177 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Ely Cathedral. The West Front Page 185 



„ The Market Place 

,, Cathedral, Interior of Nave 

,, from the Fens 

Gloucester Cathedral. Interior of the Nave . 

„ The Old Parliament House and Cathedral 

,, Cathedral from the Paddock .... 

Hereford Cathedral. The North Transept . 

Lincoln Cathedral by Moonlight 

The Steep Hill 

Cathedral. The West Towers .... 

Bath. Pulteney Bridge 

Salisbury. High Street Gateway into the Close . 

,, The Market Cross 

,, The Cloisters 

The Cathedral 

Exeter Cathedral from the Palace Gardens 

Mol's Coffee Tavern 

,, Cathedral. Interior of the Nave .... 

Norwich. The Market Place 

The .Ethelbert Gate 

,, The Cathedral from the North-East 

St. Paul's and Ludgate Hill 

York. Stonegate 

,, The Shambles 

,, Bootham Bar 

„ Monk Bar 

,, Micklegate Bar 

Winchester Cathedral. The North Aisle . . . 

,, from St. Catherine's Hill 

,, The Cathedral from the Deanery Garden 

,, St. Cross ......... 

Westminster Abbey. The North Transept . 



189 
*93 
197 
205 
21 1 
217 
229 

239 
245 
251 
263 

273 
277 
281 
287 

295 
301 

3°9 
3*9 
325 
33' 
353 
373 
377 
383 
387 
391 
399 
403 
407 
411 
419 



Vlll 



CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ENGLAND 



3fntrotiurtor2> 



IN the following accounts of the Cathedral 
Cities of England, technical architectural 
terms will necessarily appear, and to the 
end that they should be comprehensive, I give 
here a slight sketch of the origin of the various 
forms, and the reasons for their naming, together 
with dates; and to the end that I may supply a 
glossary of easy reference, I place as side headings 
in this introduction the various expressions which 
will be met with throughout the book. 

This, I hope, may relieve the reader of the 
tedium of having to turn to books of reference at 
each moment, and being subjected to a constant 
reiteration of the terms, which must necessarily 
be frequently employed. 

The Cathedrals of England may be said to com- 
prise illustrations of Anglo-Saxon, Gothic, and 
Norman, with their variations and combinations. 

Constantine, a. d. 306-337. — Romanesque^ — 
With the establishment of Christianity, more 
especially when recognised in Rome during the 
[31 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

time of Constantine, arose the marvellous develop- 
ment of architecture, founded upon the basis of 
classical remains. This " Romanesque," as this 
period of architecture came to be called, perme- 
ated later the whole of Western Europe. 

Basilica. — Relieved from immediate fear of 
persecution, the Christian architects straightway 
commenced to convert the " basilica " remains to 
suit the requirements of the " New Faith." The 
Basilica, as its derivation from the Greek BacriXi/oj 
("the royal house") implies, "was the King's 
Bench" of the Romans. It was a long rectangular 
building, with sometimes rows of columns intro- 
duced to divide the space into a nave and aisles. 
One end terminated in an "apse," of semi-circular 
formation, where the judge and his assessors were 
accustomed to sit. This apse the Christians util- 
ised as a chancel. The approach to the building 
was the " atrium," or forecourt, somewhat similar 
to the English Cathedral cloister, but differently 
situated. 

A chief characteristic of the Roman buildings 
was the " round arch," mainly composed of brick 
or stone work. This the Romans for many years 
had used more in a decorative way than for utility, 
but which became of more structural significance 
in the hands of the Christians. 
[4] 



INTRODUCTORY 

Romanesque. — Sixth to Twelfth Century. — In 
this wise, from the remains of the Basilica, with the 
further development of the " round arch " to the 
"semi-circular arch/' the Christian Romans grad- 
ually evolved the style of architecture called " Ro- 
manesque," /. e., in the Roman Style. This style 
became prevalent throughout Western Europe 
from the beginning of the sixth to the close of 
the twelfth century. In process of time transepts 
were added and the choir prolonged, giving the 
outline, as it were, of a cross, the Holy Symbol of 
Christianity. 

Anglo-Saxon. — 500-1066. — Thus Romanesque 
may be said to be the fountain-head of Anglo- 
Saxon, Norman Proper, Anglo-Norman, and 
Gothic Architecture. 

During the Roman occupation of England, mis- 
sionaries came to her from Rome, the metropolis, 
and made converts, as they did in other countries, 
and as missionaries do nowadays in China and 
elsewhere. They and travelling merchants insen- 
sibly introduced the style of architecture then 
prevalent in Italy, namely, the Romanesque. Ow- 
ing to the untutored nature of the Anglo-Saxons, 
their first attempts at imitating what would appear 
to them entirely new, together with the difficulty 
of procuring skilled labour, were necessarily crude. 
[5] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

These first attempts may justly come under the 
heading of " Anglo-Saxon." 

When the Campanile or tall bell-towers came 
into existence in Italy, England imitated. 

Anglo-Norman. — 1066. — The Normans, at the 
Conquest, introduced their rendering of architec- 
ture, which they had borrowed from the Roman- 
esque, with a suspicion of Lombardic, and even 
Byzantine styles intermingled. As they could not 
entirely at first uproot the local peculiarities of 
the Anglo-Saxon treatment of style which they 
found in the country, they in a way grafted the 
Norman architecture on to the existing style. 
Thus it came to be called " Anglo-Norman." 
At first the work was heavier in character than 
the Norman proper, but it became lighter towards 
the close of the twelfth century. 

Norman Peculiarities. — The Norman peculiar- 
ities were the building of the church on a cruci- 
form plan, with a square tower placed over the 
transepts where they cross the nave ; the massive 
cylindrical nave piers. To relieve the heaviness 
of these massive nave piers and doorways, the 
chevron, or zigzag pattern, spiral and other groov- 
ings were cut. The mouldings were of the same 
character as in France, but towards the close of 
the twelfth century they were by degrees disused. 
[6] 



INTRODUCTORY 

In the transition period, n 54-1 189, the dog- 
tooth ornament appears, and occurs in combination 
with the " billet," a circular roll with spaces cut 
away at intervals, as at Canterbury. 

The Normans also greatly employed arcades, 
both blank and open. The interlacing of arcades 
was frequently used by them. They were formed 
by semi-circular arches, intersecting each other 
regularly. This interlacing is supposed by many 
authorities to have been the origin of the " pointed 
lancet arch." The Norman arcades form a prom- 
inent feature in the internal and external decora- 
tion of their buildings. The internal arrangement 
of the larger churches consisted of three stages 
or tiers. The ground stage carried semi-circular 
arches, above that came the triforium, or second 
stage of two smaller arches supported by a column, 
and within a larger arch. Above this again, came 
the third stage or clerestory, with two or more 
semi-circular arches, one of which was pierced to 
admit the light. 

The nave was usually covered by a flat ceiling, 
and not vaulted. The crypts and aisles were 
vaulted. 

The doorways appear to have been a special 
feature with the Normans, for they were generally 
very richly ornamented, and were greatly recessed. 
[7] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

The windows were narrow and small in propor- 
tion to the rest of the building. At a late period 
of the style the small circular windows became 
greatly enlarged, and it became necessary to divide 
up the space by the introduction of slender 
columns radiating from the centre. 

In England the semi-circular apse, towards the 
close of the style, gradually gave place to the 
square apse, which was more generally adopted. 

Gothic. — Fourth to Twelfth Century. — Another 
great and early factor in ecclesiastical architecture 
is the Gothic. In the early stages of Christianity, 
the Goths, a Teutonic race, dwelt between the 
Elbe and the Vistula. They subverted the Rome 
Empire. They, like other countries, received the 
Christian religion from Rome. Each country 
after its own fashion endeavoured to imitate the 
architecture of Rome. As these countries were 
semi-barbarous and unpolished, their work was 
necessarily rude. This, in conjunction with the 
invasions of Italy by the Goths, led to the term 
" Gothic." This period commenced in the fourth 
century, and was entirely changed in the twelfth, 
by the introduction of the pointed arch. 

Gothic. — 1 145-1550. — This marked a new 
era, and established a new style of architecture, the 
transition from the Norman, or Romanesque, to 
[8] 



INTRODUCTORY 

the Mediaeval Gothic. Several attempts were 
made to introduce new names in lieu of Gothic, 
for to name anything Gothic was looked upon 
with askance. 





Eomamgaue 


Early Gothic 


IVth century to Xllth century 


Anglo-Saxon 


500-1066 A. D. 




ANGLO-NORMAN 


William I. . 


. . 1066. 


William II. . 


. . 1087. 


Henry I. 


. . 1 100. 


Stephen . 


• • "35- 


Henry II. . 


. . 1154-1189. Transition. 



£©eDiaefcal c0otl)tc 

EARLY ENGLISH 

(first pointed, or lancet) 

Richard I. . . . 1189. 
John IJ 99- 

COMPLETE, OR GEOMETRICAL POINTED 
Edward I. . . . 1272-1307. Transition. 



Edward II. . 
Edward III. 



DECORATED 

MIDDLE POINTED, OR CURVILINEAR 

• !3°7- 

• l 3 2 7-*377- 

[9] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 



PERPENDICULAR 



THIRD POINTED, OR RECTILINEAR 



Richard II. . . 


1377- 


Transition. 


Henry IV. . . 


1399- 




Henry V. . . 


1413- 




Henry VI. . . 


1422. 




Edward IV. . 


1461. 




Edward V. . . 


1483- 




Richard III. . 


1483. 




Henry VII. . . 


1485 


f Tudor Period 


Henry VIII. . 


• 1509- 


1547 J 



With the close of the Tudor Period, Mediaeval 
Gothic practically died out. There crept in then 
the English Renaissance, followed after by what is 
called " The Revival of Gothic Architecture." 



ENGLISH RENAISSANCE 



The Elizabethan, or First Period 
The Anglo-Classic, or Second Period 
The Anglo-Classic, or Third Period . 
The Revival of Gothic Architecture in 

England 1800. 



about 

1547-1620. 
1620-1702. 
1702-1800. 



[10] 



Characteristics 



HNGLO-SAXON. — Anglo-Saxon may be 
briefly summed up as an inferior style of 
Romanesque, more especially the latter 
part, when it was considered necessary to build in 
imitation of the Roman way. In the early years 
of this period the advantages of stone, due to in- 
convenience of its carriage or lack of skill, were 
not widely known in England. For the most part 
the buildings were composed of wood with a 
thatched roof. Though it is true several buildings 
were also constructed of stone, and glass was used, 
yet it was only with advanced knowledge, intro- 
duced by Continental workmen, who came over 
in the seventh century, that architecture ap- 
proached anything like a definite style. 

It reached this stage just a few years before the 
Norman Conquest. The arches were usually plain, 
and always semi-circular. The columns were 
cylindrical, hexagonal, or octagonal, and thick in 
proportion to their height. The towers, as a rule, 
were square, and not very lofty. They were 

[«] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

strongly but crudely worked, strip pilasters, /. e., 
slender columns, being introduced. Circular- 
headed openings served as upper windows of these 
towers. They were divided into two lights by 
rounded balusters, sometimes with caps heavily 
projected. 

Norman. — The Norman churches were mostly 
cruciform in plan, with a central tower. The east 
end was frequently terminated by an apse. Vast 
columns, either circular, octagonal, or simply 
clustered, separated the aisles from the naves. The 
arches were chiefly semi-circular, the round arch 
being used everywhere for ornament. The Nor- 
man towers are also generally square, with a some- 
what stunted appearance. Many have no buttresses 
whatever, whilst others are served with broad, flat, 
shallow projections, which assert themselves more 
for show than for utility. The reason for this is 
that the Normans built their buildings with walls 
immensely thick with an eye to stability. The 
heavy appearance of their towers is cleverly re- 
lieved by the introduction of arcades around them, 
as at St. Albans, and occasionally richly orna- 
mented, as shown at Norwich and Winchester. 

At one of the angles there is frequently a stone 
staircase. The upper windows of these towers 
differ little from the Anglo-Saxon, except in that 

[12] 



CHARACTERISTICS 

the two lights are separated by a shaft or short 
column in place of the rounded baluster. 

The Norman doorways are a great feature. 
They are generally adorned with a series of columns 
with enriched arch mouldings spanning from capi- 
tal to capital. 

Their vaults were heavily constructed at no 
great height from the ground, and generally ap- 
plied to the aisles of churches. They exerted a 
greater thrust on the walls than the later Gothic 
vaults. 

Norman. — These churches are generally to be 
found perched on commanding sites, chosen as 
natural places of defence. Often a river wound 
round the base, and where it led short, a moat was 
constructed on the landward side, and borrowed its 
water from the river. 

The activity of the Norman builders is astound- 
ing, and forms a great contrast to the few years 
before their advent. For a short time architecture 
suffered a paralysis. Not till the much-dreaded 
Millennium (iooo a.d.), when it was thought the 
world would certainly come to an end, had passed 
did people take heart again, and architects make 
up for lost time. 

Early English. — In this period the massive 
Norman walls gave way to walls reduced in 
[13] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

thickness. The buttresses became of more struc- 
tural significance. Also, flying-buttresses gradually 
came into use to strengthen the weakness of the 
upper works, caused by the reduction of the walls 
in thickness. The pillars were elongated, and of 
slight construction. The doorways, windows and 
arcades were built with polished marble obtained 
from the Isle of Purbeck. 

The science of vaulting became more advanced. 

The towers were taller and more elegant, with 
plain parapets. They were generally furnished 
with windows. The lower ones resembled much 
the arrow-slit formation of the Norman style. The 
upper windows were grouped in twos and threes. 

The broach-spire now came into notice. It 
was added on to the square tower, and at the early 
part of this style was low in height, but gradually 
became taller. 

The circular-headed windows of the Normans 
gave place to the narrow-pointed lancets of the 
Early English. These admitted little light, and 
necessitated a greater number of windows, which 
were grouped into couplets or triplets. 

Geometrical. — The window, by the gradual pro- 
cess of piercing the vacant spaces in the window- 
head, carrying mouldings around the tracery (or 
ornamental filling-in), and adding cusps (the 
[ H] 



CHARACTERISTICS 

point where foliations of tracery intersect), gave 
rise to Geometrical work. 

The earliest work of this kind is found in 
Westminster Abbey. 

Decorated. — The towers are made to appear 
lighter by the parapets being either embattled or 
pierced with elegant designs, and pinnacles placed 
on them. 

The broach-spires gave place to spires springing 
at once from the octagon. The buttresses are set 
angularly. In this period the architects failed to 
maintain the vigour of the Geometrical period. 
The Decorated windows are formed of portions of 
circles, with their centres falling on the intersec- 
tion of certain geometrical figures. 

There is a glorious example afforded by the west 
window at York. 

Perpendicular. — The towers are generally richly 
panelled throughout; the buttresses project boldly 
— sometimes square, or sometimes set at an angle, 
but not close to each other. 

The pinnacles are often richly canopied. The 
battlements panelled, and frequently pierced. In 
the middle of the parapet now and then is placed 
a pinnacle or a canopied niche. 



[15] 



Canterbury 

Cantuaria. 
(" Doomsday Book.") 



OF all Cathedral cities, Canterbury, or, as it 
is also called, Christ Church, may pos- 
sibly be considered the most interesting. 
Though not the first to spread Christianity in 
Britain, it nevertheless firmly established it in the 
end. The earliest authentic evidence of Christians 
in England is mentioned by Tertullian, in 208. 
And again, in 304, St. Alban had been martyred 
during Diocletian's persecution at Verulam, now 
known as St. Alban's. Then, in 314, Christianity 
had attained such a position in Britain that it had 
been considered necessary for the Bishops of York 
and London to attend at the Council of Aries, in 
France. So that by the end of the third century 
to the beginning of the fourth, it is known that 
there existed bishops, though not till the close of 
the fourth century was there a " settled Church " 
in Britain, with churches, altars, Scriptures, and 
discipline. 

[17] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

These expounded the Catholic Faith, and were 
in touch with Rome and Palestine. But the 
arrival of Augustine, in 600, decidedly gave an 
impetus to the lasting establishment of Christianity 
in England, and the whole island quickly became 
converted. 

Though Christianity had long flourished in 
Rome, it could hardly, in its early stages, be ex- 
pected to make itself greatly felt in Britain, owing 
to the continual troublous times caused by the 
invasions first by the Roman soldiery, then by the 
Scots and Picts from Caledonia (now called Scot- 
land), and the Saxons, who came from the river 
Elbe, and the Angles, who dwelt to the north of 
the Saxons, in the districts now called Schleswig 
and Holstein. Then the Danes and Northmen 
landed in England in 787, and practically overran 
the whole kingdom. All these tribes, each in 
its turn, devastated the country, pillaging and 
destroying everything, so that there is little to 
marvel at the slow growth of Christianity in the 
island, seeing that the clergy were the first to 
suffer. Augustine may be said to have certainly 
revived Christianity and rescued the Church from 
utter oblivion, but it was left till the Norman 
Conquest to erect the wonderful architectural 
structures, many of which exist till this day. 
[18] 




S s 
z " 

3 I 



CANTERBURY 

The early history of Canterbury is shrouded in 
mystery. The discovery of Druidical remains 
clearly points to the practice of religious rites of 
the Britons prior to the Christian era. It appears 
also that the Romans found it as a British town 
of some importance. This theory, laying aside 
minor considerations, is strengthened by the fact 
that the Romans called it Durovernum, the de- 
rivation of which they borrowed from the British 
words " dwr " a stream, and " whern " swift, the 
latter of which was most appropriate to the Stour, 
on whose banks the city was founded. The Sax- 
ons on their arrival called the place " Cantwara- 
byrig." From this, no doubt, Canterbury owes 
the origin of its present name. Contrary to the 
ordinary laws of foundation, there appears to have 
been no one (locally) covetous of the honour of 
martyrdom, or possibly worthy, if martyred, of 
recognition by the Church. 

During the Roman occupation of the city, 
Christianity struggled, probably kept alive by such 
of the soldiers who had been previously converted 
in Rome. 

Two churches were built in the second century. 

One of these, in 600, was consecrated by the 

Bishop of Soissons, and dedicated to St. Martin, 

for Bertha, a daughter of Charibert, a Christian 

[21] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

king of Paris. On her marriage with Ethelbert 
of Kent, the foremost king of the English, it was 
stipulated that her religious inclinations should be 
protected. Through her influence the king be- 
came converted. To encourage Christianity, and 
to set a good example to his subjects, Ethelbert 
welcomed Augustine and his forty monks, in 597, 
gave him his palace, which was speedily converted 
into a priory, and helped him to found an abbey 
without the city walls, and intended as a sepulture 
for the Archbishops. 

This abbey was dedicated to St. Peter and St. 
Paul. As Canterbury was already recognised as 
the metropolis, or head of the State of Kent, in 
that their kings had their royal residence there, it 
was no difficulty for Augustine, as spiritual head, 
to make it also a Metropolitan See, the more so as, 
by the investiture of the Pope, he became the first 
Archbishop. 

Pope Gregory's (the Great) scheme in sending 
Augustine was to divide England into two Pro- 
vinces, with Metropolitans of equal dignity at 
London and York, and twelve Suffragans to each. 
But all that his emissary could effect was to conse- 
crate two bishops, one at Rochester (Kent) and 
one at Essex. As Christianity took a firmer hold 
in England, it was generally to Canterbury that 
[22] 




CANTERBURY 

CHR1STCHURCH GATEWAY 



CANTERBURY 

the different portions of England applied for mis- 
sionaries. In this foundation Augustine has been 
followed by a succession of prelates, who distin- 
guished themselves equally in spiritual and tem- 
poral affairs of the State — men, each of whom 
made a y great stir during his life, and whose 
names even now are enshrined, as it were, in a 
halo of romance. They represent the intellect of 
their times ; their lives show us the difficulties they 
encountered in overcoming the crass ignorance of 
the people on whose behalf they worked, and the 
risks and dangers and petty tyranny they suffered 
at the hands of kings, whose chief amusements 
were disturbing the peace and licentious living. 
Those who have played the most prominent part 
in ecclesiastical as well as in lay history are: 

Dunstan, who governed with a tight hand the 
kingdom during the reigns of Edred and Edwy; 
Stigand, who, for his opposition to William the 
Conqueror, was deposed from the See to make 
room for Lanfranc ; Lanfranc, whose memory 
is perpetuated not only through his abilities as 
scholar, statesman and administrator, but more 
especially as one who rebuilt the Cathedral and as 
founder of several religious establishments; the 
celebrated Thomas a Becket, who, until he became 
Archbishop, was the great friend of Henry II., 

[*5] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

and was Chancellor of England. On the accept- 
ance of the Archbishopric, Becket constituted him- 
self as a champion of the rights and claims of the 
Church, and would brook no interference from 
Henry in ecclesiastical matters. This naturally 
created a coolness between the two, which ended 
in Becket's retiring to France for six years. On 
Henry's promise to annul the Constitution of 
Clarendon, in 1170, Becket returned, only a few 
days after to be murdered in the Cathedral. 

Stephen Langton, who was raised to the See by 
Pope Innocent III., in defiance of King John, 
during a quarrel he had with the Church; Cran- 
mer, who, for promoting the Reformation, was 
burnt at the stake in Mary's reign ; and Laud, 
who was beheaded during the Commonwealth of 
Cromwell for supporting the measures of his 
sovereign, Charles I. 

Augustine did not live to see the completion of 
his Cathedral. It was dedicated to Our Saviour, 
and it is even now usually called Christ Church. 

During the ravages of the Danes the city suf- 
fered greatly, and the Archbishopric became 
vacant in 1 o 1 1 , through the violent death dealt 
out to Archbishop Alphage by the Danes. 

Canute, after his usurpation of the throne, re- 
built a great part of the city and restored the 
[26] 




CANTERBURY 

INTERIOR OF THE NAVE 



CANTERBURY 

Cathedral ; and the monks were not forgotten, in 
that the revenue of the port of Sandwich was 
made over to them for their support. These 
benefits greatly helped the city to attain great im- 
portance, and in Doomsday Book it is entered 
under the title of " Civitas Cantuariae." 

In 1080 the Cathedral was burnt down, only to 
be restored with greater splendour, and dedicated 
to the Holy Trinity, by Archbishop Lanfranc, 
who rebuilt the monastic edifice, erected the Arch- 
bishop's palace, founded and endowed a priory 
dedicated to St. Gregory, and built the hospitals of 
St. John and St. Nicholas. 

In 1 161 the city became almost extinct through 
fire, and at several subsequent periods it suffered 
severely from the same cause. 

In 1 1 70 the great event which stirred the king- 
dom, and which conveniently marks the start- 
ing-point of the disastrous half of Henry II.'s 
reign, was the great means of replenishing the 
treasury of the Cathedral. In that year Becket 
was murdered as he was ascending the steps lead- 
ing from the nave into the choir. His name was 
subsequently canonised. His shrine was visited 
from far and near by every rank of pilgrim, who 
seldom left without depositing first some substan- 
tial token of their reverence for the saint. Four 

[*9] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

years after the murder popular feeling was as great 
as ever, so that it was probably to propitiate the 
people, as much as to ask for Divine intercession 
in his troublous affairs, that Henry II. performed 
a pilgrimage to the shrine and submitted himself 
to be scourged by the monks. 

Another source of great importance to the 
Cathedral was the institution of the Jubilee by 
the Pope. It commemorated every fifty years 
the death of Becket, and till the last one, cele- 
brated in 1520, attracted an immense number of 
pilgrims, who gave a great impetus to trade in the 
city. The number and richness of their offerings 
were incredible. 

The dissolution of the priory of Christ Church 
was gradually effected ; the festivals in honour of 
the martyr were one by one abolished ; his shrine 
was stripped of its gorgeous ornaments, and the 
bones of the saint were burnt to ashes and scattered 
to the winds. 

A part of the monastery of St. Augustine was 
converted into a royal palace by Henry VIII. In 
this palace Queen Elizabeth held her court for a 
short time. During her reign there was an influx 
of Walloons, who, persecuted for their religious 
tenets, had fled from the Netherlands and settled 
in Canterbury. 

[30] 



CANTERBURY 

They introduced the weaving of silk and stuffs. 
To them Queen Elizabeth allotted the crypt under 
the Cathedral as their place of worship, where 
the service is still performed in French to their 
descendants. 

In this Cathedral was solemnised the marriage 
of Charles I. with Henrietta Maria of France, in 

1625. During the war between Charles I. and 
Cromwell the Cathedral was wantonly mutilated 
and defaced by the followers of Cromwell, who 
converted the sacred edifice into stables for his 
horses. At the Restoration, Charles II., on his 
return from France, held his court in the royal 
palace at Canterbury for three days. This mon- 
arch, in 1676, granted a charter of incorporation 
to the refugee silk-weavers settled in the city. 
These refugees, a few years after, were consider- 
ably increased by French artisans, who came 
over consequent on the revocation of the Edict 
of Nantes in 1685. 

( To those admirers of form and beauty the won- 
derful architecture of the present Cathedral must 
satisfy their every cravings To students the study 
of this colossal building must be a work of love, 
encouragement, and continued interest. Rebuilt 
soon after the Conquest by Archbishop Lanfranc^y 
and worthily enlarged and enriched by his several 
[31] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

successors, the Cathedral is a crowning work of 
grandeur and magnificence, exhibiting, in its 
highest perfection, every specimen of architecture, 
from the earliest Norman to the latest English. 
In form it is that of a double crosy Where the 
nave and the western transepts intersect, there 
springs up a lofty and elegant tower in the Later 
English style, with a spired parapet and pinnacles, 
with octagonal turrets at the angles, terminating 
in minarets. In the west end are two massive 
towers, of which the north-west is Norman, and 
the south-west is similar in character, though 
embattled, and little inferior to the central tower. 
Perhaps the most noteworthy portions of this 
Cathedral, though it is hardly possible to make a 
distinction, are the Chapel of Henry IV., with its 
beautiful fan tracery depending from the roof;/ 
the small but beautiful Lady Chapel, which is 
separated from the eastern side of the transept by 
the interposition of a finely carved stone screen ; 
and in that part of the Cathedral, called Becket's 
Crown, is the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, famous 
as the site of the gorgeous Shrine of St. Thomas 
a Becket./ In " Becket's Crown " a softened light 
steals through the painted window. The interest 
in this window lies in the fact that most of the 
glass shown is ancient, and it is the fifth of the 
[32] 




* 



CANTERBURY 

THE NORMAN STAIRWAY 



CANTERBURY 

twelve windows in the Trinity Chapel which 
suffered severely at the hands of the Puritans in 
1642. 

What remained of the ancient glass was replaced, 
as far as possible in the original position, by the 
late Mr. George Austen, subsequently to 1853. 

These windows represent the miracles of St. 
Thomas a Becket between the years 1220 and 
1240. 

Between the western towers there is a narrow 
entrance spanned over by a sharply pointed 
arch, enriched with deeply recessed mouldings. 
Above this are canopied niches, over which is a 
lofty window of six lights with richly stained 
glass. 

The south-west porch constitutes the principal 
entrance, and is highly enriched with niches of 
elegant design. It belongs to a late period of 
English architecture. The roof is mos elabor- 
ately groined, and shields are attached at the 
intersections of the ribs. In the same period of 
Late English must be included the fine nave and 
the western transepts. A gorgeous effect is given 
by the richly groined roof supported by eight lofty 
piers, which divide it off on each side from the 
aisles. From the eastern part numerous avenues 
lead to the many chapels in different parts of the 
[35] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

interior, and give a truly magnificent effect. All 
these chapels deserve the closest study, like the 
rest of the building, to thoroughly appreciate the 
subtlety of design, and the marvellous skill of 
the architect. 



[36] 




Burljam 

Dunholme. 

(" Doomsday Book.") 

Hac sunt in fossa Bedae Venerabilis ossa. 

) HOUGH Durham dates from the tenth 
century, yet it is necessary, to understand 
the growth of its power, to go back to the 
seventh century. 

The exact date of the birth of St. Cuthbert is 
unknown. As a youth he was admitted into 
Melrose Abbey, where in the course of fourteen 
years he became monk and prior. From there he 
passed another fourteen years in the Convent of 
Lindisfarne, after which he retired to Fame for 
nine years. At the end of this period he was 
persuaded, most unwillingly, by Egrid, King of 
Northumbria, to become Bishop of Lindisfarne, a 
See in Bernicia, as Durham County was then 
called. 

But after two years' office he retired to Fame. 
There died St. Cuthbert on March 20, a. d. 687, 
in the thirty-ninth year of his monastic life, still 
[37] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

undecided as to where he should be buried. 
However, the remains were reverently preserved 
in the Church of Lindisfarne, till the monks were 
compelled to flee, owing to the invasion of the 
Danes, towards the end of the ninth century. 
Though in dire dread and confusion, the monks 
forgot not their sacred trust, but carried the holy 
remains of St. Cuthbert with them. 

They wandered many a weary day throughout 
the North of England in search of " Dunholme," 
which Eadner, a monk of their order, declared to 
them had been divinely revealed to him as the 
lasting place of rest for the holy and incorruptible 
body of St. Cuthbert. They seemed to have had 
great difficulty in locating the whereabouts of 
Dunholme, for according to tradition they were 
miraculously delivered from their nomadic life. 
As they proceeded they heard a woman inquire 
of another if she had seen her cow, which had 
gone astray. Much to their joy and relief they 
heard the reply, " In Dunholme." 

Thereupon they climbed to the summit of the 
" Hill Island," at the base of which they had 
arrived, as they wished to deposit their corruptible 
burden on a spot so close to Heaven that it should 
remain incorruptible, and by its incorruptibility 
be a fitting foundation on which to build a shrine 
[38] 



DURHAM 

worthy of their Saint and the God who honoured 
him. 

About 995 their idea was realised by Bishop 
Ealdhune. He founded a church, built in the 
style usual then in Italy, of brick or stone with 
round arches. This style, based directly on Italian 
models, became prevalent throughout all Western 
Europe till the eleventh century, and in England 
was known as Anglo-Saxon. This church was 
erected over the Saint's resting-place, upon the 
rock eminence called Dunholme (Hill Island). 
Later on the Normans changed this into 
" Duresne," whence Durham. And a represen- 
tation of a dun cow and two female attendants 
was placed upon the building. At the same period 
the See was transferred from Lindisfarne, and, 
together with the growing fame of the presence 
of the " incorruptible body " of the Saint, attracted 
pilgrims, who settled there with their industries. 
Thus were laid the foundations of the great city. 
In this wise St. Cuthbert became the patron Saint 
of Durham, as well as of the North of England 
and of Southern Scotland. 

In 1072 William the Conqueror found it 
necessary to erect, across the neck of the rock- 
eminence, the castle, to guard the church and its 
monastery. 

[41] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

In 1093 Bishop Carileph built a church of Nor- 
man structure in place of Ealdhune's Anglo-Saxon 
church, and changed the Anglo-Saxon establish- 
ment of married priests into a Benedictine abbey. 

After the Norman Conquest the county became 
Palatinate, and acquired the independence peculiar 
to Counties Palatine. 

The bishops of Durham were invested with 
temporal and spiritual powers, exercising the royal 
prerogatives, such as paramount property in lands, 
and supreme jurisdiction, both civil and military, 
waging war, right of forfeiture, and levying taxes. 
These privileges were granted, owing to the re- 
moteness of Durham from the metropolis and its 
proximity to the warlike kingdom of Scotland, and 
allowed of justice being administered at home, 
thereby doing away with the obligation of the 
inhabitants quitting their county, and leaving it 
exposed to hostile invasions. 

They were also excused from military service 
across the Tees or Tayne, on the plea that they 
were specially charged to keep and defend the 
sacred body of St. Cuthbert. Those engaged on 
this service were called " Haliwer folc " (Holy 
War folk). But in the twenty-seventh year of the 
reign of Henry VIII. the power of the See was 
much curtailed ; and eventually, on the death of 
[42] 




Q s 
o 




DURHAM 

Bishop Van Milvert in 1836, it was deprived of all 
temporal jurisdictions and privileges. 

Around Carileph's fine Norman church numer- 
ous additions were made from time to time, 
namely : 

The Galilee or Western Chapel, of the Transi- 
tional Period. 

The gradual change from the Norman to the 
Pointed style, which took place between 1 154 and 
1 1 89, during Henry II. 's reign. 

The Eastern Transept, or " Nine Altars." 

The Western Towers, built in "The Early 
English Style," which was a further development 
of "The Transitional." 

It was carried out in the reigns of Richard I. to 
Henry III., 11 89 to 1272. It is also known as 
"First Pointed" or "Lancet." 

The Central Tower (Perpendicular). 

The Windows (Decorated and Perpendicular). 

From 1 1 54, the commencement of Henry II. 's 
reign, architecture acquired new characteristics in 
each reign, or rather the architects of each reign 
attempted to improve on the style of their prede- 
cessors. It began with the "Transition from Nor- 
man to Pointed." From that it passed to " First 
Pointed or Early English." Then to " Complete 
or Geometrical Pointed." This was succeeded, in 
[45] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Edward III.'s time, by a more flowing style called 
" Middle Pointed/' " Curvilinear," or " Deco- 
rated." The graceful flowing lines of this period 
culminated in what is known as "The Third 
Pointed," "Rectilinear," or "Perpendicular Style." 
This period existed from 1399 to 1546, that is to 
say, from the beginning of the reign of Henry IV. 
to the end of the reign of Henry VIII. 

The Galilee or Western Chapel was built and 
dedicated as an offering to "The Blessed Virgin," 
by Bishop Pudsey, between 1 1 53 and 1 1 95 ; and 
served as the allotted place of worship for women, 
who were strictly forbidden to approach the sacred 
shrine of St. Cuthbert. 

In the south-west corner of this chapel there 
is an altar-tomb of blue marble. This is revered 
as the abiding-place of the earthly remains of the 
great monk and historian, the Venerable Bede. 
Concerning him, tradition relates how Elfred, "The 
Sacrist" of Durham, in 1022, stole these remains 
from Jarrow and preserved them in St. Cuthbert's 
coffin till 1 104. They were afterwards placed in 
a gold and silver shrine by Bishop Pudsey, which 
was left in the refectory till 1 370, when Richard 
of Barnard Castle, a monk afterwards buried under 
the blue stone on the west of the present tomb, 
influenced its removal to the Galilee Chapel. 
[46] 




DURHAM 



INTERIOR OF CATHEDRAL LOOKING ACROSS THI 
NAVE INTO SOUTH TRANSEPT 



DURHAM 

There upon the altar-tomb, mentioned before, 
the casket was placed, and was covered by a gilt 
cover of wainscot, which was drawn up by a 
pulley when the shrine was visited by pilgrims. 

Upon this altar-tomb there is an inscription in 
Latin, in current use of the period, which runs 
thus : 

" Hac sunt in fossa Bedae Venerabilis ossa." 
(" In this tomb are the bones of the Venerable Bede.") 

In connection with this inscription there is a 
legend that the sixth word, " Venerabilis," was 
miraculously supplied by divine intervention to the 
tired and till then uninspired monk who was pen- 
ning it. Hence Bede is known generally as " The 
Venerable Bede." 

Close by there was an altar to the Venerable 
Bede. 

The Reformation swept away the original tomb, 
leaving only a few traces behind, and the bones 
were buried under its site ; and an altar-tomb, 
which still exists, was erected over them. 

Every Sunday and holiday at noon a monk was 
accustomed to ascend the iron pulpit beneath the 
great west window, and from it to preach. 

Though this pulpit is gone, there still exists in 
close proximity a small chamber of the time of 
4 [49 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Bishop Langley, which was obviously the robing- 
room of the preacher. 

From 1775 to 1795 this magnificent pile was 
given over to the tender mercies of one James 
Wyatt, architect, who, but for timely intervention 
on the part of John Carter, would have left little 
of it to our present view; but, alas! by his chisel- 
ling and interference with the superficial details of 
the exterior, he has taught us a lesson in vandalism. 
The Cathedral still survives with surpassing beauty, 
and the name of the would-be destroyer is dead. 

The Galilee Chapel was happily rescued in time 
from utter destruction at the hands of James Wyatt. 
This gentleman had already commenced to pull 
down a portion of it to make room for a coach- 
road, which he had planned to facilitate the con- 
nection between the castle and the college. 

Unhappily the spirit of utility of a most material 
age allowed the Chapter House to be demolished, 
but, oddly enough, this demolition, together with 
the peeling of the exterior, the removal, so to 
speak, of details and minor embellishments of the 
grand edifice, have robbed us of nothing of its im- 
pressiveness, but indeed remind us, as the mutilated 
Parthenon marbles do, of the irony of man's vain 
predilection to mutilate the beautiful, which must 
last for ever. Thus again there is evidence in the 
[50] 




»r&M 




DURHAM 

ELVET BRIDGE 



DURHAM 

interior of man's destructive power in the mutila- 
tion of the Neville tombs. 

It seems strange that the House of God the 
Peacemaker and the shrine of St. Cuthbert the 
"incorruptible" should have been used as a prison- 
house of corruptible beings and peace-breakers, — 
legitimised murderers, — for here were interned the 
Scotch prisoners to the number of forty-five hun- 
dred, after the battle of Dunbar, and ample scope 
of amusement was given for their empty brains, as 
their ruthless exercise of the privilege records. 

The Chapel of the Nine Altars still contains the 
remains of St. Cuthbert. When the tomb was 
opened in 1827 a number of curious and interest- 
ing books and MSS., the portable altar, vestments, 
and other relics were found. These are now placed 
in the Cathedral Library. The Cathedral Library 
was formerly the dormitory and refectories of the 
abbey, as it was originally styled. 

In this connection one is led to speculate upon 
the possible early evolution of religious thought 
of early Christianity, and to half suspect that the 
"Nine Altars" in the Galilee Chapel and the 
"Woman's Bar" were the remnants of symbols 
of pre-Christian era, retained for the obvious 
purpose of satisfying converts to the faith still 
young. 

[53] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

There is a strong flavour of the worship of the 
Nine Muses of pagan times, and of the Judaical 
laws with regard to women either within or with- 
out the places of worship. 

Tradition has it that St. Cuthbert was a misogy- 
nist, and so strong was it that the precincts of St. 
Cuthbert were strictly guarded against the en- 
croachment of women. To enforce this "The 
Boundary Cross" or "Woman's Bar" was con- 
structed to limit their approach, in the south of 
the nave. 

By this attitude towards women St. Cuthbert, as a 
priest, only foreshadowed the present regime of the 
Church of Rome as regards matrimonial obligations 
on the part of its servants. For so saintly a man 
must not be taken as a hater of women, or his 
beatification as the son of a woman would have 
no sense, and would call his incorruptibility into 
question, and his saintliness of character in grave 
doubt. 

The chief entrance to the Cathedral was origi- 
nally in the west end, but when Bishop Pudsey built 
the Galilee Chapel, a doorway was constructed in 
the north end, framed in a rich and deeply re- 
cessed Norman arch, doing away with the necessity 
of the great entrance. Fixed to the door is the 
famous Norman knocker, suspended from the 
[54] 





1 




DURHAM 

THE WESTERN TOWERS 



DURHAM 

mouth of a grotesque monster, by which offenders 
seeking sanctuary made their presence known. 

One of the most marvellous features, perhaps, 
of the whole Cathedral is the impressive grandeur 
of its appearance to the traveller, approaching from 
any quarter, who sees this Island Hill capped by 
the mighty structure, soaring up, as it were, into 
the heavens, yet dominating by its protecting 
shadows the city round its base — the symbol most 
beautifully conceived of the affinity between earth 
and heaven, and truly the noblest form of monu- 
ment of reverential design that the human brain 
could have possibly conceived. 



[57] 



2 Etcfjfieto 



Licefelle. 
(" Doomsday Book.") 

**w~* ICHFIELD, the ancient cathedral city of 
f Staffordshire, has the best existing type of 
>i ^ the fourteenth-century English church. It 
is memorable also as the birthplace of Dr. Johnson. 
Through the generosity of Alderman Gilbert the 
Corporation has purchased the house in which 
Dr. Johnson was born, with his statue opposite it, 
and has opened it to the public, much in the same 
way as that of Shakespeare's at Stratford-on-Avon. 
Lichfield is about sixteen miles to the north of 
Birmingham, and lies in a fertile valley, on a small 
tributary of the Trent. 

The Venerable Bede, in his accounts of this city, 
calls it Licidfeld, being supposed to mean " Field 
of the Dead." It appears that a large number of 
Christians, in the reign of Diocletian, was massacred 
just in the neighbourhood, and thus originated the 
name Lichfeld, now altered to Lichfield. The 
[58] 



LICHFIELD 

termination " feld " was clearly introduced from 
over the water, for it still exists in the Low Coun- 
tries, and bears the same meaning. As to what 
connection exists between " licid " and " dead," 
we cannot clearly understand. 

In 669 Lichfield became an episcopal see, over 
which St. Chad was the first bishop. He left 
behind him a work, in the form of his Gospels. 
For a short time, namely, in the reign of OfFa, it 
was raised to the dignity of an archbishopric, but 
the Primacy was restored to Canterbury in 803. 
The See of Lichfield was, in 1075, transferred to 
Chester, and from there, a few years later, to Cov- 
entry. Eventually, in 1148, Lichfield recovered 
its see. In 1305 the town received a charter of 
incorporation, and has since returned members to 
Parliament. It was raised to the dignity of a city 
by Edward VI., 1549. 

The original Norman Cathedral no longer exists. 
In its stead there is a beautiful structure of Early 
English style, dating either from the end of 
the twelfth or the beginning of the thirteenth 
century. 

Mr. Collins gives us an excellent idea of the 

wonderful and elaborate architecture of the west 

front. It seems that the architect generally lavished 

his best powers on the west front, as if to arrest 

[59] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

the attention of the worshipper prior to entry. 
The west front was, and is now, invariably the 
chief entrance to the church. There is no doubt 
that the entrance was here specially situated with 
a view of continuing the first great impression. 
There is nothing grander and more impressive in 
cathedral architecture than to view the gradual 
unfolding of the interior as the sight becomes more 
accustomed to the sudden transition of the outside 
glare of day to the subdued light inside. 

Nothing can be more symbolical of religion in 
church structure than to observe the trend of archi- 
tectural lines in perspective. If the eye follow the 
upward course of the central and side aisles, and 
the downward sweep of the caps of columns, 
arches and walls diminishing in true perspective 
lines, it will be seen that they converge to the 
holiest place of the sacred edifice — the altar, the 
point of sight for all. 

This Cathedral received, like other mighty 
buildings, similar ill-treatment during the Civil 
Wars. It was converted into stables by the par- 
liamentary troops, who created havoc amongst its 
rich sculptures. In 1651 it was set on fire, and, 
by order of Parliament, was stripped of its lead, 
and left to neglect and decay. 

The damage was repaired by Bishop Hackett in 
[60] 




LICHFIELD 

THE WEST FRONT 



LICHFIELD 

1 67 1. The Restoration has not long been com- 
pleted, various improvements having been made. 
Under the superintendence of Mr. Wyatt, the 
choir was enlarged by the removal of the screen 
in front of the Lady Chapel. The transepts are 
richly ornamented, and contain certain portions of 
Norman architecture. The windows are worked 
in beautiful tracery. The choir is in the Decorated 
style of English architecture. 

St. Mary's Chapel is an elegant design by Bishop 
Langton. For the central window was painted 
"The Resurrection," by Eggington, from a design 
by Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first president of the 
Royal Academy. In this same chapel there was 
the rich shrine to St. Chad, which was demolished 
at the Dissolution. 

There is a great central tower of two hundred 
and eighty-five feet in height, besides two western 
spires one hundred and eighty-three feet. The 
total length of the building from east to west is 
about four hundred feet. By the north aisle is the 
Chapter-house. It is a ten-sided building of great 
beauty, with a vaulted roof supported on a central 
clustered column. 

The memory of Bishops Hackett, Langton, and 
Pattishul is kept alive by their monuments, which 
escaped the ravages of Cromwell's troops. A monu- 
[63] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

ment to Dr. Samuel Johnson, a bust of Garrick, 
and a mutilated statue of Captain Stanley, serve 
to remind us of their departure from this world. 
Chantrey is responsible for a monument to the 
memory of the infant children of Mrs. Robinson. 



[64] 



<©rforti 

Oxenford. 
("Doomsday Book.") 



£^£k9HE greatness of the city of Oxford, a con- 
■ C\ traction of Oxenford, as quaintly depicted 
^<^ on the armorial shield by an ill-drawn ox 
making tentative efforts to cross a ford represented 
by horizontal zigzag waves, consists in its magni- 
ficent colleges, not huddled together, but dotted in 
all directions. Some authorities derive the name 
from Ouseford, from the river Ouse, now the Isis, 
and that the wealthy abbey, erected on an island 
in this river, was named Ouseney, or Osney, from 
the same source. 

Didanus, an early Saxon prince, is credited with 
a monastic establishment, about the year 730, dedi- 
cated to St. Mary and All Saints, and founded for 
twelve sisters of noble birth. His daughter Fride- 
swide was first abbess, and was after death canonised 
and buried in the abbey dedicated to St. Frideswide. 

The origin of the city is attributed by some 
historians to the establishment of schools by Alfred 
5 [65] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

the Great, whilst, on the other hand, it is demon- 
strated to have existed many years prior to this 
monarch's reign, as far back as 802, by an act of 
confirmation by Pope Martin II., which sets it 
forth as an ancient academy of learning. It has 
its market-place and other essentials, like every 
town; but take away the colleges, and with them 
sweep away all the traditions that have sprung up 
and constituted that university which brooks no 
rival excepting Cambridge, the city would no 
longer be a city, but, at the most, an overgrown 
village. 

There is no doubt that the colleges were the 
gradual development of monastic institutions. 
The hall of nowadays and the kitchens and 
buttery-hatch are simply the survivals of the re- 
fectory of the mediaeval days. The compulsory 
morning attendance of students, on most days dur- 
ing term-time, to prayers in chapel, is again a sur- 
vival of the matutinal devotions of the monks. In 
the early days of monasticism the inmates of the 
ecclesiastical buildings were the only recipients of 
learning and exponents of illuminated manuscripts, 
in addition to the knowledge of some trade or 
other. A few, perhaps, of the laity, who were 
favourites and might possibly be admitted as 
novices, were permitted to partake of this know- 
[66] 



OXFORD 

ledge, but being brought up in the convent their 
sympathy and gratitude would be entirely with 
their benefactors. Nevertheless, as time went on 
and a thirst for knowledge of letters increased, this 
introduction of novices became the thin end of 
the wedge to the downfall of the monastic power, 
which was consummated by Henry VIII. in the 
year 1525. 

On the site of the monastery of St. Frideswide 
Cardinal Wolsey founded a college, then named 
Cardinal College, but now known as Christ Church. 
On the disgrace of this famous prelate, Henry VIII. 
completed the establishment, under the name of 
Henry the Eighth's College. It is necessary to 
make this slight mention of the college, for no 
doubt its great accommodation influenced the 
removal of the episcopal see from Osney, and con- 
stituted the elevation of the Church of St. Fride- 
swide into a cathedral. This removal necessitated 
the change of name to Christ Church, under which 
is comprised the sacred edifice and college. This 
has given rise to a unique position. The Cathe- 
dral is not only a cathedral of the city, but is a 
noble and immense chapel of the college, and the 
Dean occupies the singular position not only as 
the Dean of the church but also as the Dean of 
the college. 

[67] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Spread out before the chief and only entrance of 
the church is Tom Quadrangle, with a paved walk 
extending all round, and raised a few steps above 
the circular carriage drive which encloses a lawn, 
with the pond famous for the ducking of students 
unpopular with their contemporaries. 

There are evidences, at one time, of the exist- 
ence of pillars supporting a roof, covering the whole 
extent of the broad-flagged pavement of this quad- 
rangle. The principal entrance to this quadrangle 
is through Tom Tower, from which daily, about 
nine in the evening, the huge bell booms forth one 
hundred and one strokes, the signal for all colleges 
to close their portals, and the dealing out of pecu- 
niary fines to all late-comers. The lower part of 
this tower, up to the two smaller towers, is Wolsey's, 
whilst the upper and incongruous half is the con- 
ception of Wren. In spite of this, it is a noble- 
looking structure, as can be seen by looking at the 
water-colour of Mr. Collins. 

The Cathedral cannot strictly be termed im- 
posing, as so little of it is visible externally. It is 
hemmed in on all sides by the college precincts, 
and jammed, as it were, into a corner, presents a 
rather undignified appearance, and not at all in 
accordance with the usual proud position of a 
cathedral. It shows to best advantage when 
[68] 




OXFORD 

CHRISTCHURCH. INTERIOR OF THE NAVE 



OXFORD 

viewed from the side of the river Thames, exhib- 
iting, as it does, its beautiful spire. This spire, 
of Early English architecture, is one of the earliest 
in the kingdom, though forming no part of the 
original design. It is planted on the top of the 
central tower of the Cathedral, which is a cruci- 
form Norman structure. 

The interior presents many interesting portions 
of singular beauty and design ; the arches of the 
nave, which have been partly demolished, are in a 
double series, the tower springing from corbels on 
the piers. The remains of the nave, transepts and 
choir arches date from the twelfth century ; and 
the Church of St. Frideswide, or, as it is now 
known, Christ Church. The beautifully groined 
roof of the choir is decorated with pendants, pre- 
senting a rich appearance. 

The Latin Chapel has several windows in the 
Decorated style, whilst the Dean's Chapel possesses 
a monument in the same style, with beautiful can- 
opied niches, and the shrine of St. Frideswide, most 
elaborately designed in the Late style of English 
architecture. During the Parliamentary war many 
windows were destroyed. 

It is interesting to note the various vicissitudes 
of the city in history. It suffered terrible visita- 
tions from the Danes, who burnt it on three 
[7i] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

separate occasions. For refusing to submit to the 
Conqueror, in 1067, Oxford was taken by storm 
and given to Robert D'Oily. William Rufus held 
a council in the town under Lanfranc, Archbishop 
of Canterbury, with other bishops assisting, to 
defeat a conspiracy formed against him by Odo, 
Bishop of Bayeux, in favour of Robert, Duke of 
Normandy. 

Stephen assembled a council of the nobility here, 
to whom he promised to abolish the tax called 
"Dane Gelt," and to restore the laws of Edward 
the Confessor. By way of digression it is inter- 
esting to note that the Flemings still use the 
word "geld" (money), which is a corruption of 
« gelt." 

When Henry II. and Thomas a Becket fell out 
the monarch held a parliament at Oxford to under- 
mine the Pope's authority, who had laid an inter- 
dict on the kingdom. 

In 1 167 he again summoned here another par- 
liament, to partition Ireland among faithful subjects 
who had achieved the conquest of it. The citizens 
of Oxford contributed handsomely to the ransom 
of Richard I. when detained prisoner in Austria. 
King John managed here in 1 204, through the aid 
of a parliament, to raise liberal supplies. Stephen 
Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, held here a 
[72] 



OXFORD 

synod for reforming ecclesiastical abuses. Parlia- 
ment was again assembled in this ancient city by 
Henry III., in which he assumed the government, 
and revoked the grant of Magna Charta and the 
Charter of Forests, on the plea that he signed them 
when a minor. In 1 3 1 9 Pondras, son of a tanner 
at Exeter, caused some commotion at Oxford, de- 
claring that he was the rightful heir of Edward I., 
and had been stolen and exchanged for the reign- 
ing prince, Edward II. For the imposture he was 
executed at Northampton. 

Later on a conspiracy was formed to assassinate 
Henry IV., at a tournament to be held here, and 
to restore the deposed monarch, Richard II., to 
the throne. It signally failed, and the Earls of 
Kent and Salisbury, Sir Thomas Blount, and others 
were executed near Oxford. 

The next event of importance was the influence 
of Henry VIII., who raised Oxford to the dignity 
of a see, separating it from the Diocese of Lincoln. 
Wolsey also left his mark, as he invariably did 
wherever he went. During Henry VIII. 's reign 
Erasmus, a native of Holland, came to Oxford to 
aid the progress of learning. 

He taught Greek, but the violence of the popish 
party drove him from thence, as the study of the 
ancient language was deemed a dangerous innova- 
[73] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

tion. In 1555 Oxford witnessed the terrible death 
of Latimer and Ridley, condemned to be burned 
at the stake. Their Protestant tendencies had 
incurred Queen Mary's resentment, and a brass 
cross let into the centre of the road, near Balliol 
College, marks the site, and is a pathetic reminder 
of their martyrdom. Soon after Cranmer followed, 
recanting all belief in the Pope's supremacy, and 
in transubstantiation. 

In the time of Henry VIII. Cranmer was in- 
strumental in getting the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, 
the Commandments, and the Litany translated 
into English, for hitherto it had been customary 
to conduct the Church services in Latin. 

In 1625 and 1665 king and Parliament hur- 
riedly retreated from the plague in London to 
adjourn to Oxford. In the Parliamentary war 
Oxford played a prominent part, and in 1681 
Charles II. dissolved Parliament at Westminster, 
only to assemble a new one in the university 
city. 

But the great events that go to the making 
of England's history have been contributed by 
men whose names are inscribed upon the books of 
the various colleges of Oxford. The Cathedral 
College, Christ Church, claims the three great 
English revivalists: Wycliffe ; the chief of the 
[74] 




OaPur. 



OXFORD 

CHRISTCHURCH GATEWAY 



OXFORD 

Lollards; John Wesley, founder of Methodism; 
and Pusey. 

Samuel Wesley, the father of Samuel, John, 
and Charles, entered Exeter College as a " pauper 
scholaris," and was an eminent divine. His son 
Samuel, the intimate associate of Pope, Swift, and 
Prior, wrote squibs against Sir Robert Walpole, the 
Whigs, and the Low Church divines, and was 
a member of Christ Church, as well as Charles. 
These three brothers compiled the " Book of 
Psalms and Hymns," Charles alone composed and 
published some four thousand hymns, besides leav- 
ing about two thousand in manuscript. 

Pusey, born near Oxford in 1800, entered as a 
commoner and died as a canon of Christ Church, 
at the age of eighty-two. 

The great scholar of Corpus Christi, John Keble, 
became member of that college at the age of fif- 
teen, and when nineteen was elected Fellow of 
Oriel, — a very proud distinction, for Oriel was 
then the great centre of the most famous intellects 
in Oxford. 

To this society belonged Copleston, Davison, 
Whately, and soon after Keble's election Arnold, 
Pusey, and Newman became members. Newman, 
whose tendencies were in turn Evangelical and 
Calvinistic, to become finally cardinal, matricu- 
177] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

lated at Trinity College. Amongst other famous 
members of Wolsey's foundation must be included 
the statesmen William Gladstone and the late 
Marquis of Salisbury. 

Other distinguished inmates of this college are 
Anthony Ashley Cooper, the seventh earl of 
Shaftesbury, who interested himself in the practical 
welfare of the working classes; and John Ruskin, 
author of " The Stones of Venice," whose father 
had at first conceived the ambition of seeing him 
become bishop ; Cecil Rhodes, the Imperialist, 
whose health was so uncertain that at one time 
his doctor gave him only six months to live, ac- 
quired wealth in South Africa, and came home to 
be admitted to Oriel, Oxford. 

The author of " Alice in Wonderland/' under 
the nom de plume of " Lewis Carroll," was also a 
student of Christ Church. As Charles Lutridge 
Dodgson he wrote many important works on 
mathematics. 

These, with a host of other celebrated men of 
all the various colleges, have all shed lustre upon 
their alma mater; and, as long as old traditions be 
revered and followed, Oxford need never fear a 
decline. The beautiful buildings, collegiate and 
ecclesiastical, the wonderful university libraries, 
"The Bodleian" and "The Ashmolean," the 
[78] 



OXFORD 

sumptuous plate and silver of the colleges, are 
some of the great features of this cathedral 
city. 

Such, in brief, is the history of this prominent 
seat of learning. 



[79l 




jpeterfcorougf) 

St. Petrius de Burgh. 
(" Doomsday Book.") 

i HIS ancient cathedral city of Peterborough 
is most curiously situated. On first look- 
ing at the map it is extremely difficult to 
determine off-hand to which of the three counties, 
Northamptonshire, Huntingdonshire, or Cam- 
bridgeshire, it belongs. It is true part of the 
city lies in Huntingdonshire. Happily for North- 
amptonshire, the near proximity of the river 
Nene probably decided the worthy monks to se- 
lect that site for the monastery. It was dedicated 
to St. Peter, whose saintly name was evidently 
borrowed to designate the name of the borough, 
and to displace the original appellation, which was 
Medeswelhamsted, or Medeshampsted, taken out 
of compliment to a whirlpool in the river Aufona, 
now the Nene. Though we are told that this 
monastery was founded, about 655, by a royal 
Christian convert, Paeda, the fifth king of Mercia, 
and finished by his brother, Wulfhere, in atone- 
[80] 



PETERBOROUGH 

ment for his crime in connection with the prema- 
ture death of his sons for their Christian proclivities 
— though we are told this, nevertheless we are in- 
clined to think that the worthy brethren were 
chiefly responsible for the selection of the site. 

If we come to consider closely the locality of 
each monastic institution, we generally stumble 
across a river, however small and humble it may 
appear. And why is this ? Simply for the fish, 
which was carefully preserved and encouraged to 
multiply. Even to this day all monks, nuns, and 
strict followers of the Roman Catholic persuasion 
rigidly adhere to the observance of eating fish, 
instead of flesh, on every Friday and fast day, 
though nowadays it is not customary for them 
to catch fish in its natural element. In the good 
old days the holy friars had to depend principally 
upon the yield of the river for Friday's require- 
ments, if perchance the monastery was situated far 
inland. Travelling in mediaeval times was some- 
what precarious and slow. 

This monastery would be in all probability a 
wooden erection of Anglo-Saxon style. Philolo- 
gists demonstrate that "getimbrian" — to construct 
of wood — was the Anglo-Saxon word for "build." 
If this argument holds good, it accounts not only 
for the scarcity of Old English lapidary remains, but 
6 [81] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

also for their peculiar character. Till the arrival 
of masons in 672 from the continent, the buildings 
had been composed mostly of wood covered with 
thatch. Only towards the close of the tenth 
century, with a better knowledge of stone-work, 
did architects develop a definite style in England. 

With the arrival of the Danes, about the middle 
of the ninth century, the town was sacked, the 
monks were massacred, and the monastic buildings 
were burnt. For more than a century it remained 
in oblivion, till the combined efforts of Ethelwold, 
Bishop of Winchester, King Edgar, and his wealthy 
chancellor Adulph, produced a monastery, over 
which, in recognition of his pecuniary assistance, 
Adulph was made abbot. As usual, the Norman 
Conquest left its mark in the shape of a castle to 
protect the town, and to instil wholesome awe in 
the English. It was early in the reign of Henry 
I. that a fire caused great injury to the town and 
monastery. Though deplorable, as it at first ap- 
peared, it nevertheless gave birth to the present 
Norman cathedral church, which Abbot Salisbury 
commenced to build in 11 18, two years after the 
accident. At the same time the site of the town 
was transferred from the eastern side of the monas- 
tery to the present situation north of the Nene. 

Six years before the death of Henry VIII., to 
[82] 



PETERBOROUGH 

wit, in 1 54 1, Peterborough was separated from the 
Diocese of Lincoln and was created into an epis- 
copal see. The last abbot of Peterborough was 
appointed first bishop, with the abbot's house as 
the episcopal palace, and the monastery church as 
the cathedral. To this building, the Norman 
effort of Abbot Salisbury, was grafted the architec- 
ture of the Early English style. No pen can so 
adequately describe the magnificence of the west 
front of this cathedral as the brush of Mr. Collins. 
This artist has done full justice to his subject, 
which has evidently been a work of love to him. 
In his rendering he has both successfully caught 
the true spirit of the church's grandeur, and has 
managed to incorporate his distinct individuality. 
Mr. Collins has shown the same qualities with 
regard to the " market-place." 

The three lofty and beautiful arches of this west 
front are Early English. Perhaps a jarring note 
to its fine composition is the small porch, over 
which there is a chapel to St. Thomas a Becket. 

A square tower at the north-west angle and 
another similar one at the south-west angle of the 
nave enrich the general effect. The nave itself is 
Norman, and is separated from the aisles by finely 
clustered piers and arches of the same style, but 
lighter than usual in character. 
[85] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES. 

The east end is circular, and there are several 
chapels of the English style subsequent to the 
Early English. They are elegantly designed with 
fan tracery, and the windows, since their original 
foundation, appear to have been enriched with 
tracery. 

On the south side there is the shrine to St. 
Tibba, and close to it Mary Queen of Scots was 
buried. Her remains were afterwards exhumed 
and removed to Westminster. 

The north side was graced with a tomb to 
Queen Catherine of Arragon. Uneasy was her 
rest, for Cromwell's troops laid sacrilegious hands 
on the tomb. Her royal memory is now perpetu- 
ated by a commonplace marble slab. 

Not content with this the Roundheads, as the 
parliamentary forces were called, defaced the 
Cathedral, looted its plate and ornaments, and 
pulled down part of the cloisters, the chapter 
house, and the episcopal palace. What remains of 
the cloisters exhibit specimens of Early Norman, 
down to the later periods of English architecture, 
and give some idea of their former grandeur. 

Besides its beauties, this cathedral affords an 
excellent study of arches, illustrating the subtleties 
of every transitional period in architecture, from 
Norman to perpendicular. 
[86] 



PETERBOROUGH 

The choir, by John de Sez, is Early Norman. 
Martin of Bee took fifteen years, in the twelfth 
century, to realise the completion of the aisles 
of both transepts. The remaining portions of the 
transepts and the central tower were designed by 
William de Waterville, from 1 1 55 to 1175. 

Unfortunately, the insecurity of this tower 
caused it to be pulled down in 1883, and attempts 
were immediately made to substitute another. 

The nave belongs to the latter part of the 
Norman period. To be correct, its date, 1 1 jy to 
1 193, clearly indicates it should be included rather 
in the Transition period, which was then trending 
towards the Lancet of Early English. 

This same Transition must also claim the western 
transepts by Abbot Andrew, 1 1 93 to 1200. 

The painted roof of wood, added by Abbot 
Benedict, 11 jj to 1 193, is a fair example of the 
fashion prevalent in Europe at that period. An- 
other object of interest is the " decorated win- 
dows," which were placed throughout this church 
in the fourteenth century. 

A distinctive feature is the existence of the 
" Close," exhibiting interesting remains of English 
architecture. To more thoroughly ensure the 
privacy of the cathedral, its precincts were en- 
closed, very much like a college at a university, 
[89] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

either within a solid wall enclosure or generally- 
surrounded by dwellings for the ecclesiastics. 
Though the cathedral might be in the densest 
quarter of the town, yet, on closing its gates, it 
secured complete severance from the city. The 
cathedral close at Salisbury is quite the best 
specimen extant in England. 

En passant we would mention among the many 
eminent men that Peterborough is justly proud of, 
Benedict, who was abbot in 1 180, and founded an 
hospital, which he dedicated to St. Thomas a 
Becket, whose biographer and ardent admirer he 
was ; and an eminent English historian in the 
fourteenth century, John, abbot of the monastery 
of Peterborough ; Archdeacon Paley, a celebrated 
divine and moralist, who died in 1805; and Sir 
John Hill, a popular writer in the eighteenth 
century. 

In conclusion, we cannot help drawing attention 
to the great general, statesman, and contemporary 
of the Duke of Marlborough, who was called after 
this city, and known in the reigns of Anne and 
George I. The title of Earl of Peterborough was 
conferred by Charles I. on the family of Mordaunt, 
and worthily borne by the celebrated soldier- 
statesman. 

[90] 



&t. aibanss 

St. Albanus. 
(" Doomsday Book.") 

aNDER the title of" Oppidum," the strong- 
hold of Cassivelaunus, St. Albans is fre- 
quently mentioned by Caesar and Tacitus. 

At the time of Caesar's first visit to England, 
which was in 46 b. c, the Britons led a wandering 
life, and it was only in war time that they gathered 
together and took refuge in towns. Tacitus and 
Caesar describe the Britons as people who had no 
cities, towns, or buildings of any durable materials. 
The sites of their towns were chosen with a view 
to turning to good account all the assistance that 
Nature could lend, such as woods, ditches, and 
bogs. 

Though Caesar names no particular town, yet 
he describes his attack and occupation of the 
" Oppidum " over which Cassivelaunus was the 
chief. And from what is known of the progress 
and distance of Caesar from the Thames, there 
seems no doubt that " Verulamium," as it was then 
[9i] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

and afterwards called, is identical with that of the 
stronghold of the Britons. It was situated on the 
low ground on the banks of the river Ver. Caesar's 
occupation was brief. Until the conquest of Britain 
by Claudius in 43 a. d. it remained an important 
city in the hands of the Britons. Finally, in 
420 a. d., the Romans quitted Britain. During 
their stay they had greatly opened up the country, 
constructing the famous high roads, one of which 
is the great North Road, called Watling Street, 
which stretches from London to York. 

In the fifth century Verulamium, as we shall 
still continue to call St. Albans for a while, was 
occupied by the Saxons. They changed the site 
of the Roman city from the low ground, on which 
now stands the Church of St. Michael, to the 
higher ground. At the same time they renamed 
it Watling-ceaster, after Watling Street, which 
passed through it. 

From the ruins of the ancient city of Verulamium 
arose in the tenth century the celebrated monastery 
in honour of St. Alban. To account for the erec- 
tion of this building it is necessary to give a brief 
sketch of its patron saint. 

During the Diocletian persecution of the Chris- 
tians, in the year 304 a. d., a distinguished citizen, 
Alban of Verulamium, of Roman origin, but con- 
[92] 



ST. ALBANS 

verted to Christianity, suffered martyrdom for 
giving shelter to Amphibalus, a Christian. For 
this crime he was executed on the site of the 
present abbey, and in 772 was canonised. 

Nearly five hundred years after, in 793, Offa, 
the King of Mercia, was very much exercised in 
mind as to the best means of expiating his murder 
of iEthelbert. 

Greatly to his relief, he was bidden in a vision 
to seek the remains of St. Alban, and over them, 
when found, to erect a monastery. In accordance 
with these instructions he, with Higbert, Arch- 
bishop of Lichfield, the Bishops of Leicester and 
Lindsey, and a huge assembly of clergy and laity, 
visited the hill, where the " Proto-martyr of Eng- 
land," as St. Alban came to be known, had suffered. 
There the holy remains were discovered. Over 
them Offa founded the abbey, with a monastery for 
one hundred monks of the Order of St. Benedict. 

The present abbey really dates from the eleventh 
century. At the close of the tenth century the 
ruins of the old Roman city of Verulamium were 
broken up to serve as materials for the new church 
buildings. But owing to the unsettled character 
of the times the erection was delayed, till William 
the Conqueror was firmly possessed of the throne, 
[93] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

when Paul of Caen, a relative of Archbishop Lan- 
franc, was appointed abbot in 1 077. He built the 
magnificent Norman structure, based upon the 
plans of St. Stephen's, Caen — the same church 
which served as a model for Lanfranc, when he 
built Canterbury. 

Though finished for some years past, it was only 
consecrated in 1 1 15. 

As was invariably the custom, the church was 
built in the form of a cross. In this connection it 
is interesting to note the evolution of the cross. 

Prior to the Christian era the cross was looked 
upon with disfavour. 

To be crucified was to undergo a most ignomin- 
ious form of punishment, and it was only served out 
to malefactors of the worst description. Nothing 
short of this would have been a sufficient check in 
those times to the growth of vice. But in the 
early days of Christianity the cross came to be 
regarded as the holiest symbol of " The Sacrifice " 
made for the good of mankind. 

When converts met they formed on the ground 
the sign of the cross, in order to distinguish friends 
from foes. The mere fact of a severe punishment 
meted out consequent on discovery of this secret 
passport served only to increase the reverence held 
for the symbol. 

[94] 



ST. ALBANS 

As soon as time and opportunity allowed places 
of worship were erected, and the natural form 
adopted would be that of the cross, for which they 
had suffered so much persecution, and which typi- 
fied the foundation of their faith and hopes of 
salvation. 

As they assembled in church they would be 
sensible of the prevailing influence of the emblem. 
In every direction, look where they would, they 
would always see the holy sign. The roof would 
reveal to the gaze the same form as that on the 
ground. 

Even the walls, as they soared upwards, out- 
lined, tier upon tier, the Christian sign, capped at 
the last by a mighty cross, which cast its protecting 
shadows around and over the worshippers. 

The altar came to be placed at the head of the 
cross. The transept, crossing it at right angles, 
formed the arms, and the nave the upright. 

The altar was always situated at the east end, 
again illustrating a link with the pagan times, 
when worshippers turned towards the sun. 

As time progressed chapels were erected along 
the sides, causing the walls to be pierced and 
arched. These chapels were in honour, firstly, of 
" The Blessed Virgin," and then of the leaders of 
" The Faith," who had been canonised as saints 
7 [97] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

on account of martyrdom. But the main building 
was always dedicated to the " God Head." 

By a special grant in 1 1 54, given by Pope 
Adrian IV., who was born near St. Albans, and who 
was the only Englishman ever appointed to the 
Papal See, the abbots of St. Albans were allowed 
the privilege of wearing a mitre. Added to this 
dignity he was given precedence over all in Eng- 
land, whether they were king, archbishop, bishop, 
or legate. He also exercised supreme episcopal 
jurisdiction over all clergy and laity in all lands 
pertaining to the monastery. 

The first abbot was Willgod, nominated by 
King Ofla. 

The last one was Richard Boreman, otherwise 
Stevenache. 

In all there were forty-one from the foundation 
to the suppression, which took place in 1534. In 
that year the monastery was seized by Henry VIII., 
who allowed pensions to the monks, and an an- 
nuity to the abbot. 

About 1480 the abbey was amongst the first in 
England to set up a printing press. On this the 
first English translation of the Bible was printed. 

In spite of every loving care exercised, the relics 
of St. Alban enjoyed little rest. In Wulruth's 
[98] 



ST. ALBANS 

reign as fourth abbot, the abbey suffered at the 
hands of the Danes. They carried away with 
them the bones of "the Proto-martyr " to Denmark, 
and there placed them in a convent at Owenses. 
They were found and brought back to the 
abbey. 

Again, seventy years later, the Danes ravaged 
the country. But this time iElfric II., eleventh 
abbot, resorted to artifice. He hid the bones in 
the walls of the church, and sent bogus relics to 
the monastery at Ely, giving the monks special 
charges to guard them well. On the retirement 
of the Danes from the country, iElfric sent post 
haste to reclaim these bones. Ely at first demurred, 
but, giving way in the end, sent back some sub- 
stituted bones. This disquieted the saint. 

He appeared to Gilbert, a Benedictine monk, 
and to him disclosed the fraud, enjoining him to 
bring to light the true bones from their hiding- 
place. This was solemnly done. But Ely un- 
expectedly disclosed the artifice they had practised, 
and claimed that they were in possession of the 
true relics. 

As neither party would yield, " the relics of St. 

Alban" for a hundred years received reverential 

and impartial homage both at St. Albans and at 

Ely. Eventually Ely disclaimed their right, on 

[99] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

the appeal of Robert de Gorham, the eighteenth 
abbot, to the Pope. 

In the history of the " Wars of the Roses," the 
city of St. Albans played a prominent part. 

In 1455 Henry VI. set up his royal standard on 
the north side of the town, whilst the Yorkists, 
under the Duke of York and the Earl of Warwick, 
the " Kingmaker," encamped in the fields east of 
the town. 

On May 3 of the same year in Holywell Street 
and its adjacent roads fought the two armies to 
decide the succession to the English throne. The 
Yorkists gained the victory. The king was taken 
a wounded prisoner. 

On February 17, 1461, St. Albans was for the 
second time the scene of a terrible battle. The 
Lancastrians, with Queen Margaret at their head, 
defeated the Yorkists under the Earl of Warwick, 
and restored Henry VI. to the throne. 

The principal portions now in existence of the 
original Norman church by Paul of Caen are the 
tower, the eastern bays of the nave, and the tran- 
septs. Though it exhibits specimens of architec- 
ture of different periods, and has undergone much 
restoration, the main architectural outlines, as 
conceived by Paul, have been adhered to all the 
time. 

[ 100] 



ST. ALBANS 

Within recent years Sir Gilbert Scott, succeeded 
by Sir Edmund Beckett, made extensive renova- 
tions. The only reminder of the once vast mo- 
nastic buildings is the great gateway, within a few 
yards of the west entrance to the abbey. 



[101] 



Welle. 
(" Doomsday Book.") 

" V/ t ELLS, a city, having separate jurisdic- 
^yj tion, locally in the hundred of Wells- 
Forum, County of Somerset." Thus 
runs a description of this place, and is a fair sample 
of most cities. We think a little explanation anent 
" the hundred " may possibly make that term more 
clear of understanding, and may not be amiss. 
The description, short as it is, has quite a con- 
densed history of its own, but only conveys a hazy 
idea of the status of the city. 

In the days of heathenism, it must be remem- 
bered that England was partitioned into several 
kingdoms, the size of which was regulated by 
the might of their respective kings. Each tribe, 
or kingdom, was ruled by a tribal chief, or folk- 
king. He was chosen by the tribe, and the king- 
ship became in time practically hereditary. To 
maintain his power he had to respect and keep the 
customs of his people. Without their consent he 

[ 102] 



: 




WELLS 

CATHEDRAL AND THE POOLS 



WELLS 

could pass no law ; he could touch no freeman's 
life or heritage without consent of law, which 
gave the freeman the right of defending his cause 
before his fellow-freemen ; he presided, at regular 
annual intervals, at the folk-moot, or tribal assem- 
bly, and at the great feasts and sacrifices. Counsel- 
lors and wise men assisted the king with advice. 
His marriages were the result of favourable and 
pacific negotiations with other tribes. He was 
called upon to travel throughout his kingdom and 
see that justice was properly administered and 
evil and oppression suppressed. He was almost 
regarded as a demi-god, and his crimes were sup- 
posed to be punished by the gods, who denied 
good seasons and brought about other calamities. 
The king was allowed a little army, or comitatus 
as it was called, of paid retainers, to maintain 
adequate discipline, and to form his bodyguard. 
These kings, chosen by the people at the tribal- 
moot, in heathen times were throned on the holy 
stone and carried about on a shield, and in Chris- 
tian times were consecrated. In accordance with 
the extension of the West Saxon kingdom, which 
became the kingdom of the English, the court in- 
creased. At the time of the Conquest, a treasurer, 
a chancellor, and other officials looking after the 
king's plate, clothes, and horses were added to the 
[105] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

royal household. When in addition to these were 
added the bishops, abbots, and the aldermen, who 
had succeeded the tribal kings in the several "folks," 
or " shires," on their absorption into the West 
Saxon kingdom, the king was recognised as the 
head of the Witema-gemot, or Concilium Sapien- 
tium, as the " meeting of wisemen " was called. 
In the tenth century the king no longer went 
about to get the consent of each folk-moot to 
a certain law, but convened the heads of each 
shire-moot at some convenient central spot. This 
convening of moots, or Mycel-gemot, became the 
Magnum Concilium of the Normans, and in the 
thirteenth century developed into the High Courts 
and Parliament. Beneath the shire-moots came 
the "hundred-moots," and later on the "hall- 
moots." The origin of the " hundred " appears, 
by some authorities, to be based on the military 
organisation. It is supposed, in the first instance, 
to be a grouping of a sufficient number of free 
homesteads to furnish at least one hundred and 
twenty fully-armed freemen for war service, and to 
supply full-qualified jurors for the cases of the dis- 
trict. This hundred-moot was presided over by 
a lord or an hundred-elder, and discharged the 
duties for the district much in the same way as 
the shire-moot did for the county. It was a crimi- 
[ 106 ] 



WELLS 

nal and civil court with its grand jury, and en- 
forced the attendance of persons from each manor 
within the hundred. When the king was absent 
from the shire-moot, the " ealdorman " (alderman) 
of the shire presided, and to watch the royal in- 
terests was nominated the " shire-reeve," or sheriff 
(scirgerefa), chosen from the better class of the 
freeholders. We are told that the laws of Eng- 
land were far in advance of those in France. In 
fact, the English had written laws at the time of 
the Conquest, and the Normans had none. It 
hardly seems credible that the conquered were, in 
some respects, more civilised than their conquerors. 

It was only after the Conquest that the " Dooms- 
day Book " came into existence. After the Con- 
quest the sheriff became simply a royal officer. 
He was the financial representative of the Crown 
within his district. Now his financial duties no 
longer exist, and his judicial are almost nil. Our 
general knowledge of him is that he is supposed 
to be in at the death of a murderer, and that he 
is somehow or other associated with the bailiff 
— sheriff's officer, as he is styled. 

Mr. Collins presents us with three interesting 

graphic descriptions. This city owes its name to the 

numerous springs, and more particularly to that of 

St. Andrew's Well, whose water, rising in the vicin- 

[ 109] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

ity of the episcopal palace, flows through the south- 
western part of the city. Ina, King of the West 
Saxons, named it thus. He, in 704, founded a 
collegiate church and dedicated it to St. Andrew 
the Apostle. 

This foundation was handsomely endowed by 
Cynewulf in 766, and flourished till 905. Wells 
was then erected into a see. This change was 
consequent on an edict of Edward the Elder for 
the revival of religion, which had been brought 
down to a low ebb by the frequent and terrible 
incursions of the Danes. To combat this state of 
things, Pligrund, Archbishop of Canterbury, con- 
secrated several new bishops, of whom Aldhelm, 
formerly Abbot of Glastonbury, became first 
bishop of Wells. 

Edward the Confessor made his chaplain, Giso, 
the thirteenth bishop to the See, and at the same 
time enriched it by the confiscated property of 
Godwin, Earl of Kent, and Harold, Earl of Wessex, 
his son, whom he had driven into exile. Harold, in 
spite of his exile, made an incursion into Somerset- 
shire, levied mail on his former tenantry, and eased 
the church of its treasures. 

In the meantime Giso was being consecrated at 
Rome. On his return he was fortunate enough to 
gain some compensation from the queen, who was 
[ "o] 



WELLS 

sister to Harold. But, unfortunately for Giso, 
Harold was again received into favour. He 
promptly procured the banishment of Giso, and 
on his succession later to the throne straightway 
resumed all his estates, which Edward the Con- 
fessor had granted to the Church, and thus im- 
poverished the See. 

Bishop Giso's opportunity came with the Con- 
quest, when he was reinstated. William, in his 
second year of reign, restored to the Bishopric, 
with some small deduction, all Harold's estates. 
Giso augmented the number of canons, and built a 
cloister, hall, and dormitory, and enlarged and 
beautified the choir of the Cathedral. John de 
Villula, his successor, swept away these buildings, 
and on their site built a palace. 

Villula's name in ecclesiastical history is closely 
associated with a memorable event which caused 
considerable commotion and rivalry between the 
inhabitants of Wells and Bath. He removed the 
See of the diocese to Bath, and assumed the title of 
Bishop of Bath. Feeling ran high, and the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury was appealed to. His inge- 
nuity proposed that the prelates should be styled 
" Bishop of Bath and Wells," that an equal number 
of delegates from both cities should elect him, and 
that their installation should take place in both 
[ »i] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

churches. Yet, later, the determination of the 
diocese's headquarters became again a vexed ques- 
tion, under Bishop Savaricus, who was closely allied 
to the Emperor of Austria. 

Richard I.'s liberty was granted him by the 
Emperor of Austria on one condition besides the 
ransom, that the then vacant Abbey of Glaston- 
bury should be annexed to the See of Bath and 
Wells. Savaricus afterwards changed the seat of 
his diocese to Glastonbury, and styled himself 
Bishop of Glastonbury. The seat was finally settled 
in i 205, after his death, by the monks under his 
successor, Joscelyne de Wells. Glastonbury peti- 
tioned Rome, favourably, to be reinstated as an 
abbey, on condition of relinquishing a handsome 
portion of its revenue to the See. 

Joscelyne assumed the bishopric title of Bath 
and Wells, which has remained to this day. The 
death of this prelate was the signal for further 
dispute in another direction. The monks of Bath 
endeavoured to exercise, in opposition to the Canon 
of Wells, the right of electing the successor to the 
See. All dispute was settled by the Pope, who 
managed to draw closer the union of the churches. 
At the Reformation the monastery of Bath was 
suppressed, and though the name of the See was 
retained, all ecclesiastical authority and the right 
[112] 




WELLS 

HE RUINS OF THE BANQUFTING HALL 



WELLS 

of electing the Bishop were vested in the Dean 
and Chapter of Wells, which then became the sole 
chapter of the Diocese. 

The Chapter House is a beautiful octagonal 
building, each side measuring fifty feet. Its finely 
groined roof is held up by a central clustered 
column of Purbeck marble. Beneath it there is a 
crypt displaying a very good example of plain 
groining. 

The foundation of the present Cathedral was 
laid by WifFeline, the second bishop of the diocese, 
and completed by Bishop Joscelyne in 1239. This 
cruciform structure was dedicated to St. Andrew. 
On the south the cloisters form three sides of a 
quadrangle. The prevailing style of the architec- 
ture of this church is the Early English, with 
the introduction of the Decorated and subsequent 
periods. 

The west front is divided into compartments 
by buttresses, and is richly embellished with cano- 
pied niches, containing statues of kings, popes, 
cardinals, bishops, and abbots. Even the mullions 
of the west window and the lower stages of the 
western towers are similarly treated. These towers, 
like the central tower, are crowned with parapets 
elegantly pierced. The nave and transepts dis- 
play the grand simplicity and elegance of the Early 
[ 115] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

English style. The former is separated from the 
aisles by a series of clustered columns and finely 
pointed arches, above which are placed a triforium 
of lancet-shaped arches, and a range of clerestory 
windows with elegant tracery in the Later English 
style inserted. 

The choir belongs to the Decorated style. 

The Cathedral contains several chapels. In one 
there is the ancient clock from Glastonbury. It 
has an astronomical dial, and figures of knights 
in armour are set in motion by machinery. An 
ancient font in the south transept is of the same 
date as this portion of the Cathedral. 

Of monuments there is the elaborate effigy of 
Bishop Beckington ; and in the choir the grave- 
stone of Bishop Joscelyne is the sole relic of what 
was once an imposing marble monument bearing a 
brass effigy. In the centre of the nave King Ina 
was buried. 

The hall, by Villula, was demolished in the 
reign of Edward VI. for the sake of its materials. 
Its remains even now clearly indicate its original 
splendour. In length it was one hundred and 
twenty feet. 

On the dissolution of the monasteries Henry 
VIII. remodelled the then existing establishment 
and refounded it. This monarch's name reminds 
[116] 



WELLS 

us that Cardinal Wolsey and Archbishop Laud 
were prelates of this see. The eminent historian, 
Polydore Vergil, was archdeacon in the sixteenth 
century, and in the year 1634 was born in this 
city pious Dr. George Bull, Bishop of St. David's. 
The history of the See is the history of the 
city. 



["7] 



Worcester 

Wircestra. 
(" Doomsday Book.") 

HPART from its beautiful Cathedral, this 
ancient city has gained notoriety from its 
famous manufacture of porcelain. Who 
is there who has not heard of " Old Worcester " 
china ? From the experiments of china clay, china 
stone from Cornwall, feldspar from Sweden, fire- 
clay from Stourbridge and Broseley, marl, flint, 
and calcined bones, Dr. Wall evolved those exqui- 
site creations of Worcester china which now claim 
universal admiration and obtain fabulous prices. 

It has been said that for political reasons the 
joint efforts of Dr. Wall, a physician ; William 
Davies, an apothecary; and Edward Cave, the 
founder of The Gentleman's Magazine, gave birth to 
the foundation of the Worcester Porcelain Com- 
pany. This desirable event took place in 175 1, 
six years after the invasion of the Pretender's 
armed forces, which penetrated as far as Derby. 
Whether the establishment of this industry helped 
[118] 



WORCESTER 

George II. 's party to gain votes in the county 
against the numerous supporters of the Pretender, 
who made their presence felt in Worcester, or not, 
is now of little consequence. The existence of 
this branch of art clearly demonstrates the insecure 
footing of politics, and asserts the triumph of its 
founders. 

Mr. Collins gives us another proof that " art is 
long" by his skilful rendering of the beautiful 
portion of Worcester Cathedral here shown. 

At the period of the Roman invasion of England, 
two British tribes, the Cornavii and Dobuni, were 
in part ownership of Worcestershire. This British 
settlement was promptly annexed by the Romans 
as a military station, and was included in the division 
called Flavia Caesariensis. They named it Vigorna, 
but being low and woody it offered little attraction 
to them, and received little attention at their hands. 
With the establishment of the Saxon Octarchy this 
territory became included in the kingdom of 
Mercia. Like many of the English towns that 
served as Roman military posts, the Saxons grafted 
the Roman appellation " cester " for a camp, to 
Wigorna. 

Wigorna-cester gradually changed to Worcester. 
The city's advancement was temporarily checked 
by the ravages of the Danes, who burnt it more 
[119] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

than once. In spite of the opposition of the Bishop 
of Lichfield, the See of the city was founded by- 
Archbishop Theodore, in 673, though not finally 
established till 780. It then severed its connection 
with the See of Lichfield. 

Save for predatory incursions of the Danes, 
especially on two occasions, when the Dane chief 
Canute was, in 1 o 1 6, defeated by Edmund Ironsides 
near Blockley; and at another time, when the 
Danes deemed it necessary, in 1 041, to punish the 
Saxons for refusing to pay them tribute called 
" danegelt," — save for these little misfortunes, 
little else interfered with the gradual growth of the 
city's prosperity. 

Naturally, with increased prosperity, the city 
freed itself from bondage to Danes. At the date 
of the Conquest it had even attained sufficient im- 
portance to have a mint. The existence of various 
English mints at that period, as shown here, and in 
Oxford and other towns, according to their impor- 
tance and the exigencies of the neighbourhood, 
must have been solely due to the geographical par- 
tition of England. 

Prior to the Conquest we notice the frequent 
distribution and redistribution of England into 
kingdoms, in ratio to the superior power or strata- 
gem of one king over another. 
[ 120] 



WORCESTER 

By this is made evident the lack of unity and 
support against the common foe, the foreign in- 
vader. Each kingdom of necessity issued its own 
currency, besides framing its own laws to suit the 
character of the subjects and the nature of the 
surroundings. 

Though each king attempted to restore this 
chaos to order by the simple process of grabbing 
his neighbours' land during the intermission of 
hostilities against foreign invaders, it was only 
Alfred the Great who really attempted some 
scheme of unity — and then failed to accomplish 
what seemed an impossibility. But this impos- 
sibility was entirely overcome by William the 
Conqueror, who straightway grasped the situation. 
He erected castles everywhere, with the twofold 
purpose of curbing the Saxons and keeping out 
their former foes. Under his rule internal dissen- 
sions were quelled, effete customs were abolished, 
new and necessary laws were introduced, archi- 
tecture was encouraged, trade was fostered, and a 
recognised currency was adopted. All this can be 
readily gathered at a glance into that marvellous 
book he caused to be drawn up, called " Doomsday 
Book." In it a correct valuation of all property, 
from the noble lord's down to the agricultural 
implements of the peasant, is entered, with the 

[ 121 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

position of every church and castle extant con- 
spicuously marked on the chart in Latin. He 
wished to thoroughly gauge the resources of his 
recent conquest. With this information he gained 
an index to the complete establishment of his 
sovereignty over England. This may be con- 
sidered a digression, but we submit that a brief 
sketch of the wonderful change that took place 
under this monarch is essential to the right under- 
standing of the history alike of cathedral and 
city. No other reigning prince of England, 
before or since William's reign, has left such 
lasting evidences of his personality except it be 
Henry VIII., who is inseparable with the disso- 
lution of the monasteries. 

The drawing of Mr. Collins gives an excellent 
idea of the character of Worcester Cathedral. 
Its site is on the eastern bank of the river Severn, 
and is the most important building of the city. 
Yet it cannot be compared to the massive grandeur 
of Ripon. Though its beauty could not entirely 
be marred by restoration, yet, having been allowed 
to get out of repair, the task was entrusted in 1857 
to Mr. Perkins, the cathedral architect. He has 
managed to sweep away a great part of the old 
work, and in some instances has replaced the ori- 
ginal by conjectural work of Early English style. 
[ 122] 



WORCESTER 

But to revert to the early stages of the Cathedral. 
Bishop Oswald appears to have absorbed the sec- 
ular monks of St. Peter's, the Bishop's church, into 
a monastery of St. Mary, thereby changing the 
secular state of the canons to that of the monastic. 
This bishop, in 983, finished the building of a 
new monastic cathedral. 

By the time that the Normans cast their in- 
fluence over Worcester, Bishop Wulfstan had 
gained so much fame for saintliness that it is 
recorded he was the only English prelate left in 
charge of his see. But subsequent history some- 
what discounts his holy character and demonstrates 
his readiness to conform with new customs. 

He met the Normans half-way by undertaking 
to build a great church of stone, after the Norman 
style of architecture. 

In 1088 he suffered interruption through 
Welsh raids, but finally signalised the end of 
his labours by holding a synod in the crypt in 
1094. 

Another notable foundation of his is the Com- 
mandery, in 1095, believed to be one of the rarest 
specimens of early house architecture now extant. 
We cannot be too grateful for his contribution to 
church architecture, though only the outer walls 
of the nave, the aisles, a part of the transept walls, 
[125] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

some shafts, and the crypt remain as evidences of 
his Norman adaptability. 

Here it is well to accentuate the fact that the 
crypt (1084) is apsidal, and that only three other 
examples of this style exist, namely at Winchester, 
Gloucester, and Canterbury, all dating within the 
last twenty years of the eleventh century. 

The nave (1175) was much injured by the 
collapse of the central tower. In the meanwhile, 
though dead some two hundred years, the saintly 
character of Wulfstan suffered no diminution, and 
was turned to profitable use by the monks soon 
after 1203, the year of his canonisation. The 
magnificent offerings to his shrine became so 
numerous and rich that the monks were enabled 
to finish the Cathedral in 1 2 1 6 — surely the most 
fitting memorial to the great founder. They con- 
tinued their labours by adding a Lady chapel, soon 
after, in the east end, and rebuilding the choir in 
the Early English style. In the fourteenth century 
the nave was reconstructed, the Decorated style 
being introduced in the north side and the Perpen- 
dicular in the south. 

The Chapter House is a round building with a 
stone roof resting on a central pillar, and dates from 
the Late Norman period. 

The Refectory belongs to the Decorated, and 
[126] 



WORCESTER 

the Perpendicular style claims the cloisters. The 
central tower is just over one hundred and sixty 
feet in height. As can be seen by the drawing, 
the plan of the building is a pure cross. There 
are two transept aisles, and only secondary transepts 
to the choir exist. A noteworthy circumstance 
is that St. Helen's, Worcester, is the earliest re- 
cipient of a chantry (1288). 

The most interesting memorial in this cathedral 
is King John's, in the choir, said to be the earliest 
sepulchral effigy of an English king in the country. 
In the Chantry Chapel there is an altar-tomb to 
Arthur, Prince of Wales and son to Henry VII., 
who died in 1502. John Bauden, bishop, and 
author of " Icon Basilike," has a monument. 
Bishop Hough's memory is perpetuated by the 
work of Roubillac, and that of Mrs. Digby by 
the sculpture of Chantrey. 

To give a detailed account of the history of the 
city would be long and unnecessary. Suffice it to 
say that the city continually changed hands during 
the civil wars. In 1265, in Worcestershire, close 
upon the frontier of Gloucestershire, was fought 
the battle of Evesham, in which Henry III.'s son 
surprised and defeated Earl Simon de Montford, 
one time a royal favourite. This result put an 
end to the confederacy of the barons. Cantilupe, 
[127] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

the Bishop of Worcester, was implicated in that 
he favoured the Earl's cause, who had withdrawn 
previous to the battle, to the friendly territory of 
Worcester's See, and had rested at Evesham 
Abbey. Queen Elizabeth and James II. respect- 
ively paid the city a short visit. 

It suffered extensively by the dissolution of 
the monasteries. The parliamentary troops foully 
defiled the Cathedral, and did considerable damage 
to the city, which was Royalist. 

Here it was that Charles II., with his Scottish 
army, was defeated by Cromwell, who had taken 
up a position on Red Hill without the city gates. 
Fortune and disguise helped Charles to escape, and 
from here he began his adventurous journey to 
Boscobel. The cathedral city has since increased 
steadily in prosperity. Besides the Worcester China 
Company, founded in 1 75 1, and still flourishing, a 
Company of Glovers was incorporated in 1661, 
and is an important industry. These, in addition 
to hop-growing, help to keep up the trade pros- 
perity of Worcester. The See has enriched the 
Church of Rome by four saints, and has yielded 
to the English State several Lord Chancellors and 
Lord Treasurers. 



[128] 



CJwfjester 

(" Doomsday Book.") 

IN a geographical account of this city it is given 
as being locally in " the hundred of Box and 
Stockbridge, rape of Chichester, county of 
Sussex." The origin of this term " rape," comes 
from the Icelandic " hreppr," meaning a village or 
district. From the Icelandic verb, "hreppa," to 
catch, obtain, arose the Anglo-Saxon rendering — 
"hrepian, hreppan," to touch. Rape came thus 
to be one of six divisions of the county of Sussex, 
possibly by reason of their nearness to each other. 
It formed the intermediate between the shire and 
the hundred. A sketch of the shire and the 
hundred is treated in the description of Wells. 
After this slight digression, we will immediately 
enter upon the history of Chichester. 

Its foundation dates, with certainty, from the 
time when England formed a portion of the Roman 
Empire. About the year 47 a. d., Flavius Ves- 
pasian conquered this part of England. He estab- 
9 [ 129 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

lished a camp on the site of the present city, close 
to the road now known as Stane Street, throwing 
up an entrenchment three miles long. This is 
attributed to be the " Regnum " of the Belgas, 
mentioned in the " Itinerary " of Antonine. 

There is no reason to doubt this, if it be borne 
in mind that, situated almost on the south seaboard 
of England as Chichester is, it might quite con- 
ceivably be expected to be classed accidentally as 
forming a part of the territory of the Belgae, 
though geographically wrong. The advantage of 
a site at the foot of a small spur of the South Downs, 
within easy distance of the sea, though inland, 
would offer great attractions to the Roman invader. 

The early history of England shows us that inva- 
sions took effect generally on the south and east 
coasts of the island. The conquered tribes travelled 
westwards, retreating before the fierce invader. 

Little seems to have been known about the 
Roman occupation of Chichester till the accidental 
turning up of a Sussex marble slab on the site of the 
present council chamber. This discovery took place 
about the year 1 7 1 3. From this a little information 
is gleaned about the Roman buildings. The slab 
bears a defaced inscription in Latin, the missing 
letters of which having been supplied, give a con- 
jectural reading. It appears that Chichester was 
[130] 



CHICHESTER 

the seat of a British king, Cogidubnus ; and that 
under the auspices of a certain Pudens, a temple of 
Neptune and Minerva was erected out of compli- 
ment to Claudius. The evidence of this stone 
seems also to have been borne out by Tacitus, who 
mentions in his writings the existence of Cogi- 
dubnus as a native king possessed of independent 
authority. This king, also, is said to be the father 
of Claudia, who figures in the Second Epistle to 
Timothy. The conjectural reading again leads us 
to suppose that the city was occupied by a large 
number of craftsmen, who, in fact, were responsible 
for the erection of the temple mentioned above, 
besides the walls and other buildings. 

During the early Saxon period in the fifth 
century the city was destroyed by GElla. He 
was succeeded by his son Cissa, who rebuilt it 
and called it Cissa's Ceaster — Cissa after his own 
name, and Ceaster in recognition of the Romans 
having occupied it. The city afterwards became 
the seat of the South Saxon kings, and remained 
thus till about the middle of the seventh century. 
Wulfhere, the Mercian, then invaded it and made 
Athelwald, its king, prisoner. Upon his conver- 
sion to Christianity the king was reinstated. He 
was afterwards killed in battle by Ceadwalla of 
Wessex, who conquered the kingdom of the South 
[131] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Saxons. In 803 Egbert managed to make a 
union of the several Saxon kingdoms. This event 
caused considerable prosperity to Chichester. 
From ancient penny-pieces discovered, we learn 
that King Edgar, in the year 967, had established a 
mint here, thus clearly indicating the importance 
of the city. 

It suffered a terrible decline through the devas- 
tations of the Danes ; so much so, that scarcely 
two hundred houses and only one church existed 
at the time of the Norman Conquest. However, 
from 1070 the fortunes of the city began to mend 
rapidly. This wholesome change was caused 
primarily by the removal of the See from Selsea, 
where it had remained for over three hundred 
years, to Chichester. As first bishop of Chichester, 
Stigand, the chaplain to William the Conqueror, 
was appointed. In the reign of Henry I. a 
cathedral was built and consecrated by Bishop 
Ralph. It was soon destroyed by fire. On its 
site the same prelate erected a second structure of 
far greater magnificence, a considerable portion of 
which is still extant. 

In 1 189 the city again suffered from a terrible 

fire, which also caused great damage to the 

Cathedral. This building, however, was repaired 

and greatly enlarged by Bishop Siffed. His efforts, 

[ J 3 2 ] 




CHJCESTER 



FROM THE NORTHEAST 



CHICHESTER 

with those of Ralph, form the basis of the present 
cathedral. It was dedicated to St. Peter. The 
architecture embraces the Norman and the Early 
English and Decorated styles. 

A beautiful tower arose from the centre, sur- 
mounted by an octagonal spire three hundred feet 
high, with two towers on the west, of which the 
upper courses of one were destroyed during the 
parliamentary war. On the north is seen a fine 
bell-tower and lantern, connected by flying-but- 
tresses with octagonal turrets springing from the 
angles. 

In the reign of Charles I., after a stubborn 
defence by the Royalist citizens, the city was 
compelled to surrender to Cromwell's troops. In 
the course of this reign the north-west tower was 
battered down, and in 1648 Cromwell ordered the 
destruction of the cathedral cloisters, the Bishop's 
Palace, the Deanery, and the Canons' houses. 
The Bishop's Palace was repaired in 1725, and 
contains a chapel built in the thirteenth century. 
A general and great restoration of the Cathedral 
was commenced in 1830, but in spite of every 
precaution the tower and spire fell down in 1861. 
Under the guidance of Sir Gilbert Scott the neces- 
sary repairs were undertaken. The cloisters were 
restored about the year 1890. 
[i35] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Besides his grand contribution to the church's 
architecture, Storey's memory is perpetuated by 
the very fine octagonal cross in the Decorated 
English style. It stands fifty feet high, in the 
centre of the town, from which the four principal 
streets run out at right angles towards the country. 
These streets, in olden days, led to four gates in 
the embattled walls which surrounded the city. 
The last of these gates was taken down in 1773. 
Besides the cross, Storey founded in 1497 tne 
Grammar School, where Archbishop Juxon, the 
learned Seldon, the poet Collins, and Dr. Hurdis, 
Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford, 
received their elementary education. 

Amongst other schools founded was one by 
Oliver Whitby, in 1702, to afford free nautical 
education to twelve boys ; namely, four from 
Chichester, and four from each of the villages 
of West Wettering and Harting. Though 
Chichester is connected by a short canal with 
the sea, and a certain amount of shipping is done, 
it can hardly be considered as an important port. 
It lies fourteen miles north-east of England's great- 
est naval port, Portsmouth. Curiously enough, 
Chichester is only five miles south of Goodwood, 
the famous city for horse-races. 

The municipal and parliamentary borough of 

[136] 



CHICHESTER 

Chichester, incorporated as city in the year 121 3, 
is almost surrounded by a small stream called the 
Lavant, and is pleasantly situated at the end of a 
small spur of the South Down Hills. It is con- 
sidered as one of the principal cattle markets 
in the South of England. Accommodation for 
several thousands of cattle was arranged in 1871 
by the Corporation. 

There are also the Guildhall, which was for- 
merly the chapel of a convent of Grey Friars ; 
the corn-exchange, the market-house, museum, 
and infirmary. 

Bradwardine and Juxon, both archbishops of 
Canterbury ; Lawrence Somercote, a great canonist 
and writer ; the poets Collins and Hayley, whose 
memory has been perpetuated by a tablet designed 
by Flaxman in the Cathedral, were all born in this 
city. The Diocese of Chichester covers nearly the 
whole extent of Sussex. 

In conclusion we would draw the attention to 
the quaint design on the Bishop's armorial shield. 
It depicts the curious device of a mitred prelate 
holding a sword in his mouth. He is seated, pre- 
sumably, on a throne, which much resembles a 
square block of marble, looked at perspectively. 
Perhaps it is meant for the Holy Stone. Both the 
Bishop's arms are outstretched. In his left hand 
[i37] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

an open book is held, whilst his right is palm 
upwards. Why the Bishop holds the sword in 
his mouth, when his right hand is free, it is hard 
to say. Possibly the arms were first drawn up 
for a warlike bishop, or it may mean that the 
sword is the sword of Justice. In all probability 
the correct meaning is conveyed by the twelfth 
verse in Hebrews iv., wherein it sets forth that the 
sword in the Bishop's mouth is symbolical of 
" The Word of the Lord," which is " sharper 
than any two-edged sword," and the Book of 
the Law is in his left hand, whilst the right 
hand is extended in blessing or in supplicating 
prayer. 



[138] 




Chester 

Cestre. 
(" Doomsday Book.") 

HIS famous place occupies a singular 
position. It is a city and county of itself, 
a municipal county since 1888, and a 
parliamentary borough, besides being an episcopal 
city, a seaport, and county town of Cheshire. 

Chester is also the capital of the county of 
Cheshire. It is situated on a rocky elevation, on 
the north bank of the River Dee, by which the 
city is partly encircled. Just seventeen miles north 
of it lies the great manufacturing and seaport town 
of Liverpool. At one time Chester was a palatine 
city, enjoying all the privileges peculiar to that 
dignity. This practically conferred independent 
authority on a city far situated from the Metropolis. 
The head of the city was a little king, and enjoyed 
discretionary power. In a brief sketch of this, in 
the account of Durham, is clearly shown the mutual 
advantages accruing, especially in cases of emer- 
gency, such as incursions of the enemy, to both 
[ x 39] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

the city thus honoured and the Metropolis 
London. 

The geographical position of Chester in the 
extreme west of England, and its proximity to the 
restless Welsh, demanded some such power to 
cope, at a moment's notice, with any unexpected 
event from that quarter. This nearness to Wales 
contributed in a great measure to the importance 
of this city, as will be presently shown. 

The earliest authentic history of Chester ascribes 
its origin to the British tribe called the Cornavii. 
At the time of the Roman invasion they inhabited 
that part of England which now is known as the 
counties of Chester, Salop, Stafford, Warwick, and 
Worcester. 

The city they called Ccer Leon Vawr — City of 
Leon the Great. This name is supposed to have 
been given out of compliment to Leon, son of Brut 
Darien, the eighth king of Britain. By some 
historians this origin is contested. They say that 
this Welsh name of Coer Leon Vawr indicated the 
" city or camp of the Great Legion." They also 
supply " Coer Leon," or " Dwfyr Dwy," and 
render their meaning into " the city of the Legion 
on the Dee," from its connection with that people. 
The city was also called Deunana and Deva, after 
the same river. However, it is conclusively proved 
[140] 




CHESTER 

EASTGATE STREET 



CHESTER 

that here the Twentieth Roman Legion established 
a station after the defeat of Caractacus, who, after 
having made a mighty effort to withstand this 
second invasion of England by the Romans, was 
taken prisoner. He and his wife and family were 
taken to Rome, and, according to custom, were 
paraded through the streets for the benefit of the 
public, but afterwards honourably treated. This 
second occupation of England lasted from 43 a.d. 
till the Romans finally departed in 446 a. d. The 
first was a short stay by Julius Csesar in b. c, some 
ninety-seven years previous. In 46 a. d., within 
three years of the landing of the Romans, Chester 
was established as a Roman camp, during the reign 
of Claudius, the Roman Emperor. 

From the disposition of the four principal streets, 
— Northgate Street, Eastgate Street, Bridge Street, 
and Westgate Street, together with the walls 
surrounding the city, and the selection of a rocky 
site on the bank of a fair-sized river, Chester gives 
a good illustration of the principles upon which the 
Romans went to work. From a determined centre 
these roads run out to their respective gates in the 
boundary walls, in the direction of the four cardinal 
points. The walls of this city are the only ones 
in England that are perfect in their entire circuit 
of two miles, though the gateways have all been 
[143] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

rebuilt within the last hundred years. On the 
departure of the Roman soldiery, England reverted 
to the Britons, who appeared to have been help- 
less, so long had they relied upon their late con- 
querors for protection. From them Chester was 
taken by Ethelfrith, King of Northumbria, who 
defeated them under the King of Powysland in 
607. The Britons, however, regained possession 
and maintained it till 828, when Egbert, who was 
then the sole monarch of England, annexed it to 
his possessions. The Saxons, during their occu- 
pation of the city, named it Legancasster and 
Legecester. 

The Danes, in the ninth century, caused severe 
damages. On their retreat Ethelfreda, Countess of 
Mercia, repaired the walls. On her death the Britons 
once more became the city's masters, but were 
driven out again by Edward the Elder. Athelstan, 
it is said, revived its mint. About the year 972 
Edgar assembled a naval force on the river Dee. 
To demonstrate his supremacy he caused himself 
to be rowed by eight tributary kings from his 
palace on the south bank of the river to the Con- 
vent Church of St. John's. To increase the de- 
sired effect, we are told that he took the helm, 
— the symbol of government. 

On the division of England, in 1016, between 
[ H4] 



CHESTER 

Canute and Edmund Ironside, Canute gained 
possession of Mercia, in which were included 
Chester and Northumbria. Chester remained as 
a city of Mercia, governed by its earl, till the 
Norman Conquest. William then bestowed it 
with the earldom on his nephew Hugh Lupus. 
He was, in view of the proximity of Wales, 
invested with sovereign or palatine authority over 
the tract of country now represented by the county 
of Cheshire and the coast-line of Flintshire as far 
as Rhuddlan. Chester was made the seat of his 
government. 

At that time it is described in " Doomsday Book" 
as Cestre, and as possessing four hundred and thirty- 
one houses within its walls. For over two centuries 
after the Conquest this city formed an important 
military station for the defence of the English 
border against the Welsh. The Norman Earl 
Ranulph I. granted the first charter, though its 
purport proves that Chester already enjoyed certain 
municipal rights. On account of its garrison it 
was frequently visited by reigning monarchs. 

Chester was captured by the Earl of Derby, who 
held it for the Crown during the war between 
Henry III. and the barons. The contest was 
ended with the defeat of the barons at the battle 
of Evesham, close to Worcester. Here, in 1300, 
[H7] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

it was that the Welsh chieftains paid homage to 
the first English Prince of Wales, the infant son 
of Edward I. 

Richard II., by Act of Parliament, erected the 
earldom of Chester into a principality to be held 
only by the eldest son of the King. This was 
rescinded in the next reign. In fact, Richard II. 
was made captive by Henry of Lancaster, and was 
imprisoned in a tower over the gateway of the 
Castle. The city suffered greatly during the Wars 
of the Roses. It was visited by Queen Margaret 
of Anjou, the wife of Henry VI. This queen 
played a prominent part with regard to the claim 
to the English throne. She was daughter to Rene, 
who was a relation of the King of France. He 
was titular king of Sicily, but without territories. 
Though Margaret brought to Henry a rich dower, 
he was persuaded to consent to the deduction of a 
large portion of Maine and Anjou to her father 
Rene. During the Duke of Gloucester's life, who 
had strongly opposed the royal marriage, Margaret 
and her coadjutor, the Duke of Suffolk, had not 
dared to carry into effect the agreement they had 
extracted from Henry. The Duke of York, who 
was regent in France, through his integrity, was 
also a serious obstacle. She and Suffolk had him 
recalled, and the regency given to Beaufort, Duke 
[148] 



CHESTER 

of Somerset, nephew to Cardinal Beaufort. York 
felt injured, and took revenge by asserting his 
claim to the Crown. 

By his father he was descended from Edward 
III.'s fourth son. From his mother, the last of the 
Mortimers, he inherited that family's claim from 
Lionel, the second son of the same king. On the 
other hand, John of Gaunt, from whom Henry VI. 
was descended, was Edward's third son. Thus 
York, through his mother, had a prior claim. 
These rival claims caused confusion and tumult 
throughout England. In the meantime the English 
possessions in France were lost one after the other, 
till in 145 1 only Calais remained. The misgovern- 
ment of the regency in France under Somerset 
contrasted most unfavourably with that of York. 

In these troublous times England looked towards 
York as the only one to be trusted, who then 
became Protector during the King's mental weak- 
ness. He imprisoned the Duke of Somerset. The 
latter as soon as he was free assembled an army, and 
was killed at the battle of St. Albans, the first War 
of the Roses. His followers, the Lancastrians, 
were defeated by the Duke of York, and the King 
made prisoner. Eventually York declared himself. 
By Act of Parliament he and his heirs were con- 
stituted successors to the throne of England after 
[149] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

the death of Henry VI. Margaret, however, de- 
feated the Yorkists in battle, in which York was 
slain. He left behind him three sons, — Edward, 
George, and Richard, — the first of whom later on 
deposed Henry VI. and became Edward IV. We 
have ventured to give this brief sketch of the origin 
of these rival claims, in that most of the cathedral 
cities were affected by the fortunes or misfortunes 
of their favoured party. 

Chester, in the years 1507, 15 17, and 1550, 
suffered from a terrible visitation of the sweating 
sickness. From 1602 to 1605 the plague made it 
necessary to suspend all the city fairs, and to hold 
the assizes at Nantwich. This epidemic occurred 
again with great loss of life to the inhabitants, 
between 1647-48. During the Civil War this 
city of Chester endured great sacrifices for its 
loyalty to Charles I. 

The King came there in 1642, when the citizens 
gave him great pecuniary assistance. Not till after 
a memorable siege, lasting from 1643 to 1646, did 
the citizens agree to surrender. The garrison were 
allowed to march out with all the honours of war, 
the safety of the persons and property of the citizens 
with liberty of trade were secured, and the sanctity 
of the sacred buildings and their title-deeds pre- 
served. 

[150] 




CHESTER 

ST. WERBURGH STREET 



CHESTER 

Sir Charles Booth, in 1659, with the aid of the 
citizens, overcame the garrison of Charles II., then 
an exile, but was afterwards defeated by Lambert, 
Cromwell's general. 

The presence of the Duke of Monmouth, in 
1683, stirred the populace to a tumult. Amongst 
other excesses the mob spent its fury in forcing the 
cathedral doors, breaking the painted glass, destroy- 
ing the font, and other regrettable damage to this 
building. In 1688 the city was taken by the 
Roman Catholic lords, Molyneux and Ashton, for 
James II., who, after all, rendered further efforts 
useless by his abdication. Under William III. 
Chester was included in the six cities for the 
residence of an assay master, and was permitted 
to issue silver coinage. The last important mili- 
tary event that took place in this city was in the 
Rebellion of 1745, when it was fortified against 
the Pretender. 

In architecture the great characteristic is the 
quaint way the houses have been built. The streets 
have been cut out of the rock below the general 
surface of the land. The houses appear to have 
been built into the rock, or rather to have been 
piled up against it. The shops are level with the 
streets, and over them runs a balustraded gallery. 
Steps at certain intervals lead the way down into 
[153] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

the streets. These galleries are called by the in- 
habitants "The Rows." These Rows are houses 
with shops. Overhanging the shops, like the eaves 
of a house, are the upper stories, to which addi- 
tional flights of steps give access. 

Two explanations are given for this unusual 
construction of houses : one, that the Rows, or 
promenades, are the remnants of the ancient vesti- 
bules of the Roman houses ; the other that they 
were probably originated to afford ready defence 
against the sudden raids of the Welsh. The latter 
appears the more likely. The Rows, from their 
position to the streets, would afford the besieged 
greater facilities of shelter and attack. 

In Bridge Street and Eastgate Street the Rows 
are made pleasant promenades. Though many of 
the houses have been rebuilt, they still retain the 
old character. In addition to these interesting 
buildings there was the castle built by the 
Conqueror, of which there remains only a large 
square tower, called " Julius Agricola's Tower." 
The front has been entirely renewed. This tower 
served probably as a place of confinement of the 
Earl of Derby. Here were imprisoned Richard II. 
and Margaret, Countess of Richmond. Just shortly 
before the Revolution James II. heard Mass in the 
second chamber. 

[i54] 



CHESTER 

Though the Cathedral has been left to the last, 
its history is no less interesting than the other 
features of Chester. The Cathedral was originally 
the church attached to the convent of St. Werburgh, 
under which name its ecclesiastical site is mentioned 
in " Doomsday Book." It was first dedicated to St. 
Peter and St. Paul, but Ethelfrida afterwards trans- 
ferred their patronage to that of the Saxon saint, 
Walmgha, the daughter of Wulphen, King of 
Mercia. Besides this princess the great benefactors 
were Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and Hugh Lupus, 
who substituted Benedictine monks for secular 
canons. 

On the dissolution of the abbey, in lieu of the 
abbot and monks, a dean, prebendaries, and minor 
canons were appointed, the last abbot being made 
dean. Here it is as well to remember that a church 
was called an abbey, whatever its former denomina- 
tion might have been, if an abbot became its head. 
In much the same way the name "minster" is 
derived from a monastery, and cathedral is due to 
the fact that the bishop had his cathedra, or throne, 
placed in the sacred building for his own use. At 
the dissolution the Cathedral of Chester was dedi- 
cated to " Christ and the Blessed Virgin." Though 
there are some interesting remains of the abbey, 
the present building was built in the reigns of 
[ 155] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Henry VII. and Henry VIII. The diocese of 
Chester dates at the period of the kingdom of 
Mercia. It was afterwards incorporated with that 
of Lichfield, but in 1075, Peter, Bishop of Lich- 
field restored the See to Chester. His successor, 
however, removed it for the second time to Lich- 
field. Henry VIII., in 1 541, created six new sees, 
in which he included Chester. With a portion of 
the possessions of the Abbey of St. Werburgh, 
which was dissolved, he endowed the new see. 
The first bishop after the dissolution was John Bird. 
In 1752 the palace of the bishop was rebuilt by 
Bishop Keene. 

The cathedral site is on the eastern side of 
Northgate Street. Excepting the western end, it 
presents the appearance of a heavy, irregular pile, 
when viewed externally. The interior is very 
impressive, and contains portions in the Norman, 
and in the Early and Decorated styles of English 
architecture. It possesses a clerestory in the Later 
style. Some chapels in the Early English style, 
are to the east of the north transept. The south 
transept, separated from the Cathedral by a wooden 
screen, forms the parish church of St. Oswald. 
The style of the Bishop's throne, sometimes known 
as St. Werburgh's Shrine, belongs to the Early 
period of the fourteenth century. In the eastern 
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CHESTER 
ishop Lloyd's palace and Watergate street 



CHESTER 

walk of the cloister stands the Chapter House, of 
Early English style, built by Earl Randulph the 
First. It served as the burial-place of the earls of 
the original Norman line, except Richard, who 
perished by shipwreck. 

The sacred edifice has from time to time under- 
gone extensive reparations. 

As a port Chester was at one time most impor- 
tant, but through the silting up of the Channel in 
the fifteenth century, it lost a considerable amount 
of its shipping trade. In spite of the Channel being 
deepened in 1824, its shipping prosperity cannot be 
said to have advanced hand in hand with the progress 
of the city, though it possibly may be greater than it 
was in the fifteenth century. 

The great Chester Canal comes from Nantwich, 
passes through Chester, and merges into the Elles- 
mere Canal, which winds up northwards to the 
river Mersey. Thus the city is connected with 
Liverpool. 

As the crow flies, the country traversed from 
London to Chester is most interesting. The track 
passes through the counties of Middlesex, Bucking- 
hamshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, with 
its famous towns, Stratford-on-Avon, the birthplace 
of Shakespeare, and Coventry, through Stafford- 
shire, famous for its beautiful old china and its 
[i59] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Cathedral at Lichfield, and finally into Cheshire, 
the county containing Chester and Northwich. 

Among the many eminent men born at Chester 
was Randolph Caldecott, in i 846. He is handed 
down to posterity as the famous illustrator of the 
works of Washington Irving. But the achievement 
that gained him the greatest acclame was a series 
of coloured books for children. They began in 
1878 with " John Gilpin" and " The House that 
Jack Built," and ended the year before his death, 
in 1886, with the "Elegy on Madame Blaize " 
and " The Great Panjandrum Himself." In the 
crypt of St. Paul's, London, his memory is per- 
petuated through the great artistic expression of a 
brother artist, Alfred Gilbert, R. A. 

Thus, in this brief sketch, an attempt has been 
made to give a categorical history of one of Eng- 
land's most ancient cities from its earliest occupa- 
tion by the British Cornavii, and its subsequent 
events down to the royal visit in 1869 by the 
then Prince of Wales, now our King Edward 
VII., on which occasion he opened the new 
townhall. It would require far greater space 
to record every feature of interest in connection 
with Chester than can be allotted within the 
present limitations. To the antiquarian Chester 
furnishes a most interesting and absorbing study, 
[160] 



CHESTER 

and will in all likelihood continue to do so for 
many years to come yet. 

To those interested in horse-racing the fine race- 
course attracts annually a great concourse to 
Chester. 



[161] 



&ocf)ester 

Roucestre. 
(" Doomsday Book.") 

IN the illustration is seen to great advantage 
the temporal and spiritual power of Rochester : 
the State, as represented by the Norman 
keep ; the Church, as symbolised by the cathe- 
dral. Ever since Christianity came to England, 
these two mighty levers of power have marched, 
if not always hand in hand, more or less in accord. 
Though the two have frequently struggled for su- 
premacy, yet their feuds have done more towards the 
enlightenment of the people than any harmonious 
concert could have effected. In marked contrast 
to mediaeval times the State and Church of the 
present day formulate and carry out the will of 
the people. They are the channels of purpose as 
determined by the nation. Great as the power 
of the Church still is, it has nevertheless lost that 
tremendous authority it once wielded under the 
popes. 

[162] 



ROCHESTER 

Henry II. set up a strenuous opposition, whilst 
Henry VIII. dealt it a crushing blow. The dis- 
solution of the monasteries was a terrible check to 
Roman Catholicism in England, as well as Luther's 
reforms in Germany. Yet in spite of all this the 
Church of Rome has more adherents in Europe 
than any other religion. The menace to the 
Church of England lies in the lack of absolute 
obedience to the spiritual head, and the many 
different sects. The Church of Rome exacts abso- 
lute obedience and faith, and by these means is 
steadily increasing its influence. The Roman 
Catholic Cathedral recently erected in London is 
a convincing proof of the untiring energy of the 
followers of that wonderful religion. It is also 
curious to notice that the Latin races are the 
staunchest supporters of the Papacy. 

As its name implies, Rochester was a Roman 
camp. This place formed one of the stipendiary 
towns of this Latin race, and was called " Duro- 
brivae." Not much information has been pre- 
served concerning their occupation of the town. 
That it was important, and served as a military 
basis, is clearly demonstrated by the great Roman 
Watling Street, which passes through the city, and 
which bears evidence to their great engineering 
skill. 

[163] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

The great Roman streets were at that time the 
chief and only means of quick communication from 
one camp to another. To read the account of the 
wonderful system of roads organised by Darius the 
Persian is as interesting to follow as any modern 
fiction. He realised that quick communication 
with the outlying quarters of his possessions meant 
increased power and security. Along the roads, at 
proper distances, were blockhouses guarded by 
soldiers. The messenger on horseback drew rein 
at each of these wayside places to take refreshment 
and get a remount, or to hand over the dispatches 
to a fresh messenger. 

In much the same way the Romans constructed 
their roads for their postmen, and, no doubt, to 
serve as their first line of defence if a retreat should 
be necessary. We can almost conjure up the sight 
of a mounted bearer of important dispatches racing 
along. Suddenly the horse, almost thrown on to 
his haunches, is pulled up in front of one of these 
guardhouses dotted at regular intervals along the 
great road. A hasty meal is snatched, a fresh 
horse mounted, and off again, with a clatter and a 
whirlpool of dust, hurries the messenger, as if a 
kingdom depended upon his quick dispatch. We 
cannot attach too much importance to this method 
of communication, if we remember that it is only 
[164] 



ROCHESTER 

within the last two centuries or so that the sema- 
phore came into existence. When first introduced, 
this medium of conveying rapidly a message by 
the waving of a wooden arm up and down on a 
post, which was generally planted on a command- 
ing site, was considered a wonderful invention. 
Even at sea it was left to Admiral Rodney to con- 
struct an efficient code of signals. Of course the 
most primitive method was the lighting of beacons 
in times of great danger. 

Besides Watling Street, the city of Rochester 
is known to have been defended by walls built 
in the direction of the cardinal points, according 
to the Roman custom. They extended for half 
a mile from east to west, and close upon a quarter 
of a mile from north to south. After the Romans 
had departed, this place came into the possession 
of the Saxons. They renamed it " Hrove Ceaster," 
which in process of time became contracted to 
Rochester. 

During the early Saxon period Ethelbert, King 
of Kent, through the influence of his queen and 
the preaching of St. Augustine, who had just 
arrived, became a convert to Christianity. By 
this king, as we have seen, Canterbury Cathedral 
was richly endowed. To help carry out the papal 
instructions given to Augustine, Ethelbert in 600 
[165] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

founded a church in Rochester. By erecting this 
into a see, he, at the same time, laid the founda- 
tion of the future prosperity of the city. The 
building was dedicated to St. Andrew. A monas- 
tery for secular priests was also established, over 
whom was appointed for their bishop, Justus, who 
had accompanied St. Augustine and his forty monks 
into Britain. 

This cathedral suffered at many times, in com- 
mon with the city, from several incursions of the 
Danes. The city, more especially in 676, was 
sacked and almost destroyed by Etheldred, the 
King of Mercia, whilst in 839 the Danes landed at 
Romney, defeated the troops sent to oppose them, 
and massacred most of the inhabitants. Again, in 
885, they sailed up the Med way under the leader- 
ship of Hasting, and laid siege to Rochester. 
Fortunately for the city it was rescued by the 
timely assistance of Alfred. Three mints estab- 
lished by Athelstan in 930, two for himself and 
one for the bishop, and the fact of the city being 
then recognised as one of the chief ports of 
England, show with what rapidity it had re- 
gained prosperity. This peaceful state was rudely 
awakened, however, in 999. The Danes reap- 
peared in the Medway, before whom the terror- 
stricken inhabitants fled and abandoned the city to 
[166] 




04 < 

x i 

^ OS 

o g 

04 I 






ROCHESTER 

their fury. At the Conquest, Rochester was given 
by William to his half-brother, Odo, Bishop of 
Bayeux, who was also created Earl of Kent. In 
the reign of William Rufus he was implicated in a 
conspiracy to dethrone Rufus in favour of Robert 
Duke of Normandy. Thereby his possessions 
reverted to the Crown. In this Rochester suf- 
fered. In 1 1 30 Henry I. attended at the conse- 
cration of the church of St. Andrew by Lanfranc. 
During the ceremony a fire broke out. The city 
was almost reduced to ashes. 

It was again visited, seven years later, by fire, 
from which it had hardly recovered when a 
third conflagration occurred and left traces of 
devastation for ages. In 1 1 4 1 , Robert Earl of 
Gloucester was placed in the Castle. He was 
the chief general and counsellor of Matilda, and 
had been captured prisoner at Winchester after 
having effected the Queen's escape. He was 
eventually exchanged for King Stephen. In 121 5 
the barons seized and held the Castle against 
King John, who gained it. Henry III. repaired 
the Castle. 

The Castle was again, in 1 254, successfully 

defended for the King by Edward Earl Warren, 

against Simon de Montford and the barons. In 

the reign of Richard II. the insurrectionists under 

[169] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Wat Tyler released one of their comrades im- 
prisoned in the Castle. 

Rochester has been at different times visited by- 
reigning princes. Henry VIII., with Emperor 
Charles V., came there in 1521, whilst in 1573 
Queen Elizabeth honoured it with her presence. 
Charles II., on his restoration, passed through the 
city en route from the Continent to London. In 
fact Rochester, being also a port, was a convenient 
place for James II. to embark secretly on board of 
a trading-vessel lying in the Medway, by which he 
was conveyed to France. 

This Norman castle, which has played such an 
important part in the history of the city, deserves 
some notice. Its extensive remains, situated on a 
commanding site, overlook the right bank of the 
river. The Castle is supposed to have been built 
by Gundulph, when Bishop of Rochester, in the 
latter part of the eleventh century. It preceded 
by a few years the building of the Cathedral by the 
same prelate. The architecture of this castle is a 
striking example of the simplicity of plans generally 
employed by the Normans. By preference the 
castle was a rectangular keep in form. The sides 
varied from twenty-five to a hundred feet in length, 
and equally so in height. At the corners the walls 
advanced so as to form square towers, the faces of 
[170] 



ROCHESTER 

which were usually relieved by flat pilaster-like 
buttresses. The walls at the base measure some- 
times as much as thirty feet in thickness, and 
diminish to as much as ten feet at the summit. 

The internal arrangements consisted of a store- 
room, from which a narrow staircase, made into 
the thickness of the walls, gave access to the rooms 
of the garrison and those of the owners above, wood 
being employed for the floor and roof. A well was 
always dug. The entire building was surrounded 
by a deep moat filled, if possible, with water. The 
entrance was small, and was defended by a draw- 
bridge and portcullis. It was on the thickness of 
their walls and the moat that the Normans chiefly 
relied for their impregnability. They seldom 
departed from this simple form of architecture. 
Their defence was rarely constructed on a series of 
fortifications. Local advantages and a lofty site 
were invariably the Norman idea of a safe strong- 
hold. 

Great interest is attached to the Cathedral of 
Rochester. Its see is the smallest in the kingdom 
and the most ancient after Canterbury. The two 
were established, as we have seen, within a few 
years of each other, under the auspices of St. 
Augustine and King Ethelbert of Kent. 

The present cathedral dates from the com- 
[171] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

mencement of the twelfth century, when it was 
built by Gundulph. If what we are told about 
this structure be correct, its importance cannot be 
too greatly enhanced, for it is claimed that its 
architecture, though much altered and repaired 
since, is in the main a copy of Canterbury 
Cathedral at that time. Thus, in describing the 
plan of the one in Rochester, a general idea can 
be gained about the other at Canterbury. 

Gundulph's contribution is a spacious and vener- 
able building in the form of a cross, with a central 
tower surmounted by a spire. The Norman style 
forms the basis of the architecture, to which the 
Later English style was added chiefly in the many 
windows of the nave and other parts of the church. 
The west front was entirely restored between 1888 
and 1889, the Norman style being strictly adhered 
to. The doorway is a most decorative bit of 
Norman workmanship. Let into the clustered 
columns on either side there is, on the right, an 
effigy of Queen Maud, and on the left another of 
Henry I. The door is covered with a rich mass 
of geometrical design in metal. 

The crypt, invariably a great feature in a 
cathedral, is partly the work of Gundulph ; that 
is, the western portion is. The eastern part con- 
sists of cylindrical and octagonal shafts with a light 
[172] 



ROCHESTER 

vaulting springing from them, and belongs to the 
same period as the superstructure of the thirteenth 
century. 

There are several chapels, a finely groined roof, 
and ancient tombs, which all lend interest to this 
fine cathedral. 

The red-veined marble statue of Walter de 
Merton cannot fail to attract attention. He was 
the founder of the great scholastic college at 
Oxford called Merton College. Though small 
in size, the entree to it demands high classical 
attainments. 

With regard to commerce, Rochester has a 
favourable position on the river Medway, in the 
creeks and branches of which are the oyster 
fisheries. The Corporation, assisted by a jury of 
free dredgers, hold a Court of Admiralty, in which 
they make regulations for the opening, stocking, 
and closing of the oyster beds. 

In conclusion, we cannot help saying that Kent 
should be a proud county, possessing, as it does, 
the two most ancient sees in the kingdom, the 
dioceses of which are separated only by the 
Medway. 



[ i73] 



&tpon 

("Doomsday Book.") 

IN the West Riding of the county of York, 
twenty-two miles north-west of the city of 
York and eleven miles north of Harrogate, 
the ancient city of Ripon is situated at the juncture 
of the Ure, Laver, and Skell. The narrow and 
irregular streets and well-built houses, some of 
which still retain the quaint, picturesque gables so 
reminiscent of earlier times, envelop the city with 
that delightful, indefinable air of medievalism — a 
something which, tempered with old associations 
and traditions, no modern city with all its improve- 
ments can supply. To saunter through the ancient, 
ill-lighted streets of an old town at night, when life 
is dormant and commercialism quiescent, is the 
time to view unexpected beauties of architecture 
unfold themselves, and to become oneself imbued 
with a spirit of romanticism and a feeling of rest. 
If a figure in mediaeval costume and rapier were to 
come round a corner suddenly, or emerge from 
[i74] 



RIPON 

some dark nook, it would scarcely startle the 
senses, so appropriate would it seem with the sur- 
roundings, enshrouded in mysterious shadows. 

A new city can be admired, but can never be 
revered till it has survived the many storms of 
generations, and has emerged with a halo of tra- 
ditions respected and treasured. 

Ripon, in common with other cathedral cities, 
possesses this charm, and after many vicissitudes 
presents us with a magnificent cathedral. To 
revert to the commencement of the city's history, 
it is supposed to have derived its name from the 
Latin " Ripa," owing to its situation upon the 
bank of the river Ure. The earliest authentic 
record gives it under the name of Inhrypun, in 
connection with the establishment of a monastery 
in 660 by Eata, who was then Abbot of Melrose. 
It was subsequently given by Alfred, King of 
Northumbria, to Wilfrid, who had been raised to 
the archbishopric of York. He was afterwards 
canonised as a saint. Under Wilfrid's administra- 
tion and influence the town very much increased its 
wealth and importance. Through the division of 
the bishopric in the year 678 Ripon became a see. 

A great calamity overtook the city in the ninth 
century. The Danes burnt and plundered it, 
causing such devastation that it was almost wiped 
[i75] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

out. From its ruins, however, it recovered so 
quickly as to be incorporated as a royal borough 
by Alfred the Great. This happened by the year 
886. In the suppression of the insurrections of 
the Northumbrian Danes it suffered severely 
through the terrible laying waste of the land 
which Edred found necessary to subdue them. 

Little time was left for the city to regain its 
former prosperity, when the surrounding country 
was again laid waste, in 1069, by William the 
Conqueror after defeating the Northumbrian 
rebels. This monarch's vengeance so completely 
demolished the town that it still remained in ruins 
and the land uncultivated at the time of the 
Norman survey. The monastery, destroyed by 
Edred, was rebuilt by Oswald and his successors, 
who were archbishops of York. It was endowed 
and made collegiate by Archbishop Aldred some- 
where about the time of the Conquest. The city 
was now enjoying comparative peace, and was 
regaining lost prestige when it again became a 
mere wreck. Under Robert Bruce, in the reign 
of Edward II., the Scots compelled the inhabitants 
to surrender everything of value they had, and 
burnt the town. This period of devastation lasted 
from 1 319 till 1323. 

By the exertions of the Archbishop of York, 
[176] 



RIPON 

ably assisted with donations from the local gentry, 
the city rapidly recovered by the time a terrible 
plague compelled Henry IV. to leave London and 
take up his residence here. The court of necessity 
followed him. 

This royal sojourn did the city immense good, 
and again it derived benefit some two centuries 
after by the presence of the Lord President of York 
in 1 6 1 7. He had been obliged by a similar plague 
to remove his court hither. 

Ten years later another royal visitor came, 
namely, James I., who rested a night here on his 
route from Scotland to London. On this memorable 
occasion he was presented with a pair of Ripon spurs. 
From early times till the sixteenth century Ripon 
was a recognised centre for the manufacture of 
woollen caps. On the decline of this industry the 
city acquired such a fame for the manufacture of 
spurs that it became quite a current phrase to say 
"as true steel as Ripon rowels." Ben Jonson and 
Davenant make references in their verses to Ripon 
spurs. This industry, together with those of manu- 
facturing buttons and various kinds of hardware, 
flourished till quite recently, when mechanical 
industries supplanted them. 

In 1633 Charles I. also paid the city a visit. 
During the Civil War the parliamentary troops, 
[ !79l 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

under Sir Thomas Mauleverer, took possession of 
Ripon. After mutilating many of the monuments 
and ornaments of the church, they were eventually 
driven out of the town in 1643 by the Royalists, 
under Sir John Mallory of Studley, a township 
comprised under Ripon. In recounting the polit- 
ical fortunes of the city little has been said about 
its chief attraction, the Cathedral, not because it 
has played no important factor in the welfare of 
the city, but because it has been considered better 
to give, apart, the chief characteristics of its 
architecture. 

We have seen how a monastery was established 
in 660, by Eata, which later came under the patron- 
age of St. Wilfrid. From the ruins of St. Wilfrid's 
Abbey the present cathedral was founded about 
680 a. d., in the reign of Egfrid, With the excep- 
tion of St. Wilfrid's crypt, called St. Wilfrid's 
Needle, which tradition says was used for the trial 
of female chastity, nothing of the original Saxon 
fabric remains. From the similarity of this crypt, 
and of another at Hexham, both erected by St. 
Wilfrid, in formation and arrangement to the cata- 
comb chapels at Rome, it is inferred that this 
churchman had made himself familiar with their 
peculiarities during his residence in that Latin 
city. This is interesting to note. 
[180] 



RIPON 

The Cathedral, as it now stands, embraces vari- 
ous styles of architecture, and is dedicated to St. 
Peter and St. Wilfrid. It is a large cruciform 
church, with a square central tower and two west- 
ern towers. They at one time carried spires, each 
not less than one hundred and twenty feet in height; 
but the central spire having been blown down in 
1660, caused considerable damage to the roof, and 
it was thought advisable to pull down the others. 
Their removal accounts for the stunted appearance 
of these square towers. The construction of the 
present church was commenced by Archbishop 
Roger, dating from 1 1 54 to 1 1 8 1 . To this period 
belong the transepts and portions of the choir. 
The western front and towers were carried out in 
the Early English style, most probably by Arch- 
bishop Gray, between 1215 and 1255, and near the 
close of the century the eastern portion of the choir 
was rebuilt in the Decorated style. The nave and 
part of the central tower were also rebuilt in the 
Perpendicular style at the close of the fifteenth 
century. The fabric was entirely renovated under 
the guidance of Sir Gilbert Scott, from 1862 to 
1876. The episcopal palace is a modern building 
in the Tudor style, and is about one mile from the 
town. 

The present bishopric dates only from the year 
[181] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

1836. There are several charitable institutions: 
namely, the Hospital of St. John the Baptist, 
founded by an archbishop of York in 1 1 09 ; the 
Hospital of St. Mary Magdalene, for women, 
by another prelate of York in 1 341 ; and the 
Hospital of St. Anne, by some unknown benefactor 
who lived in the reign of Edward IV. A clock- 
tower was presented to the town to commemorate 
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. There is now, 
in place of the ancient industries, an extensive trade 
in varnish, in addition to the manufactories for 
saddle-trees and leather, but the most interesting 
industry is that of the Ripon lace. It is a torchon 
lace much resembling, in uniformity of pattern, the 
design used in peasant laces in Sweden, Germany, 
and Russia. 



[182] 



€\$ 



Ely. 
(" Doomsday Book.") 

IN the early history of the majority, if not of all 
of these cathedrals, it is interesting to note 
the many points of resemblance. It will be 
observed that most of them had their inception in 
the seventh century. A most convenient way also 
of remembering, if actual dates be forgotten, is that 
the commencement of the same century heralded 
the arrival of St. Augustine and his forty monks at 
Canterbury, and the re-establishment of Chris- 
tianity in England. Whatever previous efforts 
had been attempted to christianise the natives 
(prior to this century) pale into insignificance 
after the landing of this great missionary from 
Rome. The subsequent important events are 
invariably five ; namely, the devastations of the 
Danes in the ninth century, the erections of castles 
to overawe the inhabitants with the ecclesiastical 
foundations, still extant, after the dreaded mil- 
lennium had passed, from the Conquest ; the dis- 
[ 183 j 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

solution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. ; the 
desecration and mutilation of the churches under 
Cromwell's Protectorate; and the inevitable 
restoration, not always happy, of these grand 
buildings. 

The Venerable Bede, in his " Ecclesiastical 
History," ingeniously attributes the derivation of 
the name to an eel, called " Elge," on the assump- 
tion of the great abundance of this fish in the neigh- 
bourhood. At the same time another rendering, by 
some one else, supposes that the Saxon " Helyg," 
a willow, which flourished extensively, owing to 
the marshy nature of the soil round about the city, 
gave rise to the present contraction. However it 
may be, Ely dates from the year 673. The 
subsequent history of the Church and state of this 
famous place originated in that year from the 
small foundation of a monastery for monks and 
nuns by Ethelreda. This princess was the 
daughter of the King of the East Angles, and the 
wife of Egfred, the King of Northumberland. 
She had devoted a great deal of her life to 
monasticism, and eventually constituted herself as 
the first abbess of her religious effort. A contra- 
dictory account gives it that this lady more likely 
became the first abbess of a religious house which 
she had filled with virgins. Their number is not 
[184] 



;; S 



M » i 



- tm 







; 



ELY 

FROM THE WEST FRON' 



ELY 

stated. Nothing more is heard or worth relating 
of the welfare of this royal benefice until the 
ninth century, when, in the natural order of 
things, it was destroyed by the Danes. In 879, 
a matter of nine years after this devastation, it 
was partially restored by those brethren who 
had fortunately escaped the massacre. Under the 
government of provosts they were established and 
existed as secular priests for nearly a century. At 
the end of this period of inactivity it received 
much attention from Ethelwold, Bishop of Win- 
chester. This prelate in 970 purchased the whole 
of the Isle of Ely from Edgar. He then rebuilt 
the monastery and endowed it munificently. In 
it regular monks were placed under the rule of an 
abbot, to whom Edgar granted the secular juris- 
diction of two hundreds within and five hundreds 
without the Fens. Many other important privi- 
leges were bestowed by the same monarch, recog- 
nised by Canute, and greatly increased by Edward 
the Confessor in recognition of part of his education 
here received. These many marks of royal favour 
caused it to become the richest in England, and 
the city participated in its prosperity. 

Soon after the Conquest a determined resistance 
was made by many of the nobility against what 
they considered the tyranny of William. Led by 
[187] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

such leaders as Edwin, Earl of Chester, Egelwyn, 
Bishop of Durham, and headed by Hereward, an 
English nobleman, they contrived to do consider- 
able damage in the surrounding country. They 
built a castle of wood in the Fens, and made a 
vigorous stand against the Normans, who besieged 
the island, constructed roads through the marshes, 
threw bridges across the streams, and erected, as 
usual, a strong castle at Wiseberum. With the 
exception of Hereward, the rebellious subjects were 
reduced to submission. According to one authority, 
it is supposed that William's camp was simply an 
old Roman camp repaired for the occasion. We 
learn that the field, which contained the ancient 
site, was known as Belasis in some records of the 
reign of Henry III. It appears that one of Wil- 
liam's generals was called Belasis, and that he was 
quartered on the monastery, which he had taken 
possession of after the conquest of the isle. He 
treated the monks with every mark of courtesy, 
allowing them to remain under an abbot of his 
own choosing. At first he laid them under certain 
restrictions, but subsequently restored the privileges 
they had previously been accustomed to. 

In 1 1 07 the eleventh and last abbot, Richard, 
employed all his interest with Henry I. and gained 
the royal sanction to the establishment of an epis- 
[188] 



ELY 

copal see at Ely. To this the monarch granted, 
for a diocese, the county of Cambridge, which had 
till then been under the jurisdiction of the Bishop 
of Lincoln. The isle was also invested with 
sovereign powers. Richard, however, did not 
live to become the first bishop, an honour which 
was conferred in 1 1 09 on his successor, Hervey. 

By this arrangement the Abbot was superseded 
by the Bishop, and an entire distribution of the 
property belonging to the abbey was effected 
between them. As the abbey became the church 
of the See, the Abbot was obliged to alter his 
dignity to that of a prior. A fair, to continue for 
seven days, commencing from June 20, to com- 
memorate the anniversary of the death of Ethelreda, 
was instituted by the Bishop. The prelate Nigel, 
in the reign of Stephen, built a castle here, of 
which no remains exist, and whose site is now 
conjectural. The year 121 6 witnessed dreadful 
scenes of spoliation of churches and large sums 
of money exacted from the inhabitants under the 
guise of ransom. 

The cause of all this devastation being visited 
upon Ely was John's idea of revenging himself 
upon the barons. At their hands he had, the year 
previously, been compelled to undergo the mortifi- 
cation of signing the Magna Charta at Runnymede, 
[191] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

a field between Windsor and Staines. Ever since 
that time the irresolute and mean king had been 
devising schemes of vengeance against his oppo- 
nents. Three months spent in the Isle of Wight 
had enabled him, through agents and the promise 
of the estates of the barons as plunder, to raise a 
considerable army of the Brabanters. At their 
head he suddenly emerged from concealment, and 
surprised the barons by appearing before Rochester 
Castle and defeating them. 

In the meantime John was well supported at 
Ely by his general, William Bunk, or rather an 
unexpected incident hurried on its doom. The 
elements unkindly betrayed the city into the hands 
of the Brabanters. At a critical time, the treacher- 
ous swamps — the isle's hitherto great natural forti- 
fications — became the city's undoing; for a sharp 
frost set in and rendered a ready glacial access to 
the city. The enemy lost no time in reducing the 
barons to submission and the wretched inhabitants 
to great misery. The barons, thus reduced to dire 
extremities, invited Louis, the eldest son of the 
King of France, to aid them, promising him 
through his wife the crown of England. 

The French landed at Sandwich, retook Roch- 
ester Castle, and compelled John to flee. John, 
crossing over the Wash, in his march from Lynn 
[192] 




ELY 

INTERIOR OF THE NAVE 



ELY 

in Norfolk into Lincolnshire, suffered great loss 
through the return of the tide swamping the rear 
of his army, all his money, and stores. He 
himself escaped to Swineshead Abbey, in the 
Lincolnshire Fens, where a monk is said to have 
administered poison to him. With great difficulty 
and exhaustion the monarch arrived at Newark, 
where he died in the October of the year 1216. 

From this time onward the city enjoyed com- 
parative peace, and exercised the privileges granted 
by Edgar, Edward the Confessor, and William the 
Conqueror. 

Till the twenty-seventh year of the reign of 
Henry VIII. the royal franchise of Ely, in several 
statutes, was recognised as the county palatine of 
Ely. Henry, by Act of Parliament, remodelled 
the privileges, and ordered the justices of oyer 
and terminer, and gaol delivery, and justices of the 
peace for the Isle of Ely, to be appointed by letters 
patent under the Great Seal. The dissolution of 
the monasteries also was the means of converting 
the conventual church into a cathedral — much 
more appropriate to the dignity of the Bishop, 
whose title had been granted, as we have seen, by 
Henry I. in 11 07. This ecclesiastical building, 
first a conventual and then a cathedral church, 
was commenced in 1081, and entirely completed 
[i95] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

in 1534. The dedication to St. Peter and St. 
Ethelreda was changed to "The Holy Trinity." 

It is a magnificent cruciform structure, displaying 
the many changes that took place in ecclesiastical 
architecture from the early years of the Norman 
Conquest down to the latest period of English 
style. 

The main feature is the extraordinary variety of 
arches built according to successive styles. Though 
this peculiar treatment suggests an unfinished 
appearance, it cannot rob the church of its 
wonderful beauty. There is a departure from 
the general plan of other cathedrals. The nave 
is continued through an extended range of twelve 
arches. It belongs to the Late Norman period, 
and its completion probably dates from about the 
middle of the twelfth century. From 1 1 74 to 
1 189 the western tower and the transepts were 
built by Bishop Ridall. Bishop Eustace, between 
1 198 and 1 21 5, erected the Galilee or western 
porch, a noble Early English structure. Much 
at the same time a curious coincident is noticeable. 
Bishop Pudsey was busy at Durham building the 
Galilee or Western Chapel, which is such a noble 
adjunct to that city's cathedral. 

Ely's choir was originally Early Norman, and 
terminated in an apse. Unfortunately this Norman 
[196] 



ELY 

apse was destroyed. In restoration the church was 
extended eastward by six more arches under the 
guidance of Bishop Northwold, about the middle 
of the thirteenth century. His addition is Early 
English. The carving is very rich and elaborate. 

While Bishop Hotham was engaged upon the 
building of the Lady Chapel, the Norman tower 
erected by Abbot Simeon tumbled down in 1321. 
Hotham immediately replaced it by an enlarged 
octagonal substitution. On it he placed a lofty 
lantern of wood, a rich ornament and in good keep- 
ing with the rest of the holy edifice. Though this 
prelate deserves every recognition, yet we are much 
more indebted to Alan of Walsingham, who designed 
the Lady Chapel and the octagonal tower and 
lantern so ably carried out by Hotham. Alan had 
also made his influence felt in the choir-bays of this 
same cathedral, where he has so cleverly preserved 
and combined the old Early English elegance of 
proportion with richness of detail. Under the super- 
intendence of Sir G. B. Scott the fabric has been 
extensively restored. 

Attached to the Cathedral is the church of Holy 
Trinity ; it was formerly the Lady Chapel of the 
Cathedral. It was commenced in the reign of 
Edward II., and is one of the most perfect buildings 
of that age. Another handsome church is that 
[ i99 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

dedicated to St. Mary, and is partly Norman and 
partly Early English in character. 

At the Grammar School, founded by Henry 
VIII., Jeremiah Bentham, the celebrated political 
writer, received the rudiments of his education. 
The Sessions House, the new Corn Exchange, 
and Mechanics' Institute are other notable features 
of Ely. 

An historic relic, now preserved at Trinity 
College, Cambridge, is the " Ely Book." It cannot 
be passed over without a word. On a page are 
portrayed Ethelwold and King Edgar, but its chief 
importance is the record of instructions received by 
the commissioners to supply details and valuation of 
property for the " Doomsday Book." The inquiries 
and answers indicate that England had already 
been divided up into manors, and furnish besides a 
variety of most interesting information. 

Another incident in the history of Ely, if not of 
great importance to the city, is nevertheless an 
interesting insight of the respective position of the 
Church and State soon after the dissolution. 

In the good days of Queen Bess, the Bishop of 
Ely received a royal rebuke. 

In the great struggle between the Protestants, or 
anti-papal world, and the Catholic reaction, there 
was little leisure for the clergy to air their griev- 

[ 200 ] 



ELY 

ances. They were compelled to submit to the will 
of the Queen and her counsellor Cecil, from whom 
Archbishop Parker of Canterbury received his cue 
for the government of the Church. Though he 
enjoyed the personal confidence of Elizabeth be- 
yond any other ecclesiastic of the time, his com- 
plaints were unavailing. The supremacy of the 
lay power over the ecclesiastical was too thoroughly 
accomplished to allow of the Church to exist apart 
in the early years of Elizabeth's reign. The Bishop 
of Ely, for expressing unwillingness to hand over the 
gardens of Ely house to Sir Christopher Hatton, 
received a characteristic warning, couched in ele- 
gant language, for his temerity. " By God, I will 
unfrock you ! " was the Queen's gracious answer 
to the daring prelate, if he did not mend his ways. 

Through the cultivation of its fertile soil by 
market-gardeners, Ely oifers its produce to the 
London market. 

A considerable factory for earthenware and to- 
bacco-pipes, and numerous mills for the preparation 
of oil from flax, hemp, and cole-seed, help to 
furnish the trade resources of this historical town, 
which is situated on the river Ouse, in Cambridge- 
shire, and just sixteen miles from the celebrated 
University of Cambridge. 

[201] 




Gloucester 

Glowecestre. 
" Doomsday Book." 

O the long list of " cesters," the Anglicised 
form of the Latin "Castra" (camp), must 
be added Gloucester, famous in more 
respects than one ; the city where Henry I. died 
from a surfeit of lampreys, where Henry II. held a 
great council in 1 1 75, where the coronation of 
Henry III. in its abbey took place ; the city 
which the same monarch " loved better than 
London," the city extolled by Bede as one of the 
noblest in the land. Prior to the Roman invasion 
it is held to have been of considerable importance, 
and to have originated from the settlement of a 
tribe of Britons, called the Dobuni. This tribe, 
with that of the Cornavii, also controlled about 
the same time the destinies of Worcester, now re- 
nowned for its beautiful china. By the Dobuni the 
city was called Coer Glou, either out of compliment 
to its founder Glowi, a native, with the meaning, 
" the city of Glowi," or because the same British 
[ 202 ] 



GLOUCESTER 

words, according to another interpretation and its 
reputation, can be rendered " the fair city." In 
the year 47 this stronghold passed into the Roman 
possession, under Aulus Plautius, and according to 
Richard of Cirencester, a colony was established. 
This he styles Glebon, whilst the " Itinerary " of 
Antonine and other ancient records enter it as 
Glevum Colonia. 

An interesting account upon the Roman classifi- 
cation of towns in England discloses a very im- 
portant particular. It adds considerable weight to 
the description of the city by the authors just 
quoted. Their statements that Gloucester was 
classified as a colony called Glevum seemed to 
be borne out by a tombstone found at Rome. It 
purports to be in memory of a citizen of Glevum. 
This has given rise to the supposition that 
" Glevum " was the honourable title bestowed 
upon an English town of importance made a 
" colony " by Nerva. This period would be be- 
tween 96 and 98 a. d. This date in no way com- 
bats the original one of 47 a. d. It is only intended 
to show that Gloucester at the later period had 
become a colony with a certain amount of self- 
government, forming a unit of the Great Roman 
Empire. 

The district to the north-east of the present 
[ 203] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

city, called King's Holme, is supposed to have 
been the actual site of the Roman camp. Close to 
it was also the palace belonging to the Anglo- 
Saxon kings of Mercia, which was called Regia 
Domus. Round about this spot quite a valuable 
collection of Roman remains has been made, which, 
besides establishing the fact of their occupation, 
have helped archaeologists to form a correct estima- 
tion of the habits and customs of the Latin invaders. 
When the pressing needs of Rome required the 
return of all her legions, Gloucester came to be 
governed by Eldol, who was a British chief. He 
survived the terrible massacre of the Britons by the 
Saxons at Stonehenge, and in 489 revenged their 
memory by killing Hengist, the Saxon chief, at 
the battle of Mseshill in Yorkshire. 

From the Britons the city in $yy was captured 
by the Saxons. They called it Gleauanceaster, 
which exists to this day under the contracted form 
of Gloucester. At that time it was included in the 
kingdom of Wessex, and was afterwards annexed 
to that of Mercia. In the meanwhile tradition 
says that a bishop's see was founded at Gloucester 
in the second century. Lucius, the first Christian 
king of Britian, is held to be the founder, and 
is also supposed to have been buried in the Church 
of St. Mary de Lode of this city. With all respect 
[ 204] 




GLOUCESTER 

INTERIOR OF THE NAVE 



GLOUCESTER 

to tradition, this can only be accepted with reser- 
vation. If true, the present church of St. Mary 
de Lode deserves far greater recognition than it 
receives. Though evidently an old foundation 
much restored, it can hardly lay claim to such 
antiquity. In all probability a temple to some 
Roman deity existed, which, by conflicting 
accounts of historians, gave rise to the supposition 
of an early established see. Though there is proof 
that Christianity existed during the Roman oc- 
cupation of England, it seems more likely that, 
after their general exodus from the island in 418, 
a diocese, if any, was soon after established at 
Gloucester, over which Eldad presided in 490. 

This first bishopric, on the subversion of the 
country by the Anglo-Saxons, must have become 
extinct ; for the next we hear of it is when, as part 
of the kingdom of Mercia, the entire county of 
Gloucester is included in the diocese of Lichfield 
at the time of the introduction of Christianity. 
However, the first authentic evidence of monasti- 
cism appears in the year 679, when the holy 
brethren founded their establishment. Under the 
auspices of Wulfhere, then King of Mercia, this 
priory was dedicated to St. Oswald, and in the 
same year was annexed to the newly established 
see of Worcester. It afterwards became the 
[ 207 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

abbey. The city's importance in the same year 
was considerably increased by the royal patron. 
The King's brother and successor, Ethelred, never- 
theless, completed the ecclesiastical building, which 
some contend was a nunnery. This the Danes 
destroyed. It was then refounded for the recep- 
tion of secular priests in 821, by Bernulf, King 
of Mercia. 

As early as 964, in a charter to the monks of 
Worcester dated at Gloucester, Edgar styles this a 
"royal city." Several times it suffered from the 
incursions of the Danes in the eighth century, and 
more especially so in the tenth, when it was taken 
and nearly destroyed by fire in the reign of Ethel- 
red II. This monarch's reign seems to have been 
a disastrous one for the kingdom. In the first 
place, through the ambitious schemes of his 
mother Elfrida, who caused his stepbrother 
Edward to be murdered, he wrongfully occupied 
the throne in 979. On account of his tragic 
death Edward came to be styled " the Martyr." 
A reign thus inauspiciously commenced proved to 
be a constant struggle against the Danes. The 
King acquired the name of Ethelred the Unready ; 
for when the Danes attacked the kingdom, in- 
stead of being prepared to repel them, he endeav- 
oured to counteract the evil with large sums of 
[208] 



GLOUCESTER 

money. As this only served as a further incen- 
tive to fresh invasions, Ethelred eventually com- 
pounded with them in 994. On condition that 
these plundering expeditions should cease, he of- 
fered them tribute. This is the first mention we 
get of the "danegelt," as it was called. With the 
exception of the reign of Edward the Confessor, 
it continued to be levied almost without interrup- 
tion till the time of Henry II. The only benefit 
that Ethelred's reign conferred upon his subjects 
was the act of atonement made by Elfrida. 

To ease her conscience and remorse for the 
murder of Edward, she caused the foundation of 
several monasteries, and performed penances. 
Edmund Ironsides, who succeeded in 1016, was 
the exact opposite in character to his father 
Ethelred. 

He continued a serious obstacle to Canute and 
his Danes. After the last of five pitched battles 
Canute and he agreed to divide the kingdom be- 
tween them : Canute to have Mercia and North- 
umberland, and Edmund the remainder. However, 
through the murder of Edmund a few days after, 
at Oxford, Canute usurped the throne of England 
in 1 01 7. During his reign of eighteen years, 
except for a dispute with Scotland over Cumber- 
land, the country enjoyed peace at home. 

'4 [ 209 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

This peaceful term, in conjunction with the 
passing over of the dreaded millennium, when the 
end of the world had been expected, caused 
the great building activity which, under the Nor- 
man Conquest, attained such wonderful results. 

In the meanwhile the trade resources of Glou- 
cester, even before the Conquest, had greatly 
advanced, and had probably outdistanced in ratio 
those of more important commercial centres of 
England. No doubt the natives had learned many 
hitherto unknown industrial arts from the Romans. 

A native art and civilisation existed in the Island, 
we know, before the Roman Conquest. Great 
skill in enamelling, claimed by the ancients to be 
of Celtic origin, and the primitive abundance of 
gold and tin, worked, as history relates, by the 
Phoenicians, encouraged a certain degree of native 
excellence in metal work. Besides this, the gold 
coinage and other signs of their ingenuity, by 
remains discovered in Yorkshire and elsewhere, 
illustrate that various branches of art existed a 
matter of a century and a half before the Roman 
Conquest. Yet it is only reasonable to suspect 
that the inhabitants of Gloucester and of the other 
camps profited greatly from the far better know- 
ledge and technique brought by the invader from 
Rome, the acknowledged centre of civilisation at 
[ 2I °] 







z? 



GLOUCESTER 

THE CATHEDRAL AND OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE 



GLOUCESTER 

that time. Certain it is that the Roman influence 
must have left some result. The subsequent 
history of Gloucester has it that a mint existed at 
the time of Alfred. It evidently fell into disuse, 
for a mint was again established in the reign of 
King John. He also granted the burgesses ex- 
emption from toll, and showered other marks 
of royal favour. As far back as the twelfth 
century, Long Smith Street derived its name from 
the numerous artisans who dwelled there. 

They were employed in forges for the smelting 
of ore. Iron-founding and cloth-making were also 
in full swing. Felt-making, sugar-refining, and 
glass-manufacture all flourished at one time or 
another. Pin-making was introduced by a Mr. 
John Tilsby in 1625, and until quite recently 
formed the staple trade of the place. Bell- 
founding, once a feature, no longer is practised. 
In its career of nearly two centuries close upon 
5,000 bells of different sizes had been cast. With 
the exception of foundries, many modern industries 
have supplanted the old, and include match works, 
marble and slate works, saw mills and flour mills, 
chemical works, rope works, railway wagon and 
engine factories, agricultural implements, and ship- 
building yards; for it must be remembered that 
Gloucester is reckoned as a port. It exports such 
[213] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

valuable commodities as iron, coals, malt, salt, 
bricks, and pottery. The town is also celebrated 
for its Severn salmon and lampreys. 

In discussing the resources of Gloucester, no 
regard has been paid to the proper distribution of 
dates. A leap from the eleventh to the nineteenth 
century has been unavoidably made, and to chronicle 
the chief events it is necessary to go back to the 
year 1022, when a change was made in Bernulfs 
foundation. 

This year saw the ejection of the secular priests 
and the introduction of the Benedictine monks by 
Canute. In spite of opposition, the new order 
managed to keep possession of the monastery till 
the dissolution. The abbey founded by Aldred, 
Bishop of Worcester, a few years before the 
Norman Conquest served as the basis of the 
present cathedral. This transition took place 
from 1072 till 1 104, under Abbot Serle. In 1381 
Walter Frocester, its historian, became its first 
mitred abbot. Here again we have an instance of 
a Norman building forming the backbone to subse- 
quent periods of Gothic and English architecture. 
Though each style is distinct, the tout ensemble is in 
such perfect harmony that it calls for the greatest 
admiration for the wonderful skill of the several 
architects. The plan of the Cathedral is the usual 
[214] 



GLOUCESTER 

symbol of the cross. In the centre there is the 
beautiful fifteenth-century tower. Its mass of 
detail and pierced work give it an air of elegance 
and lightness. The oldest portions are the nave, 
the chantry chapels, which are apsidal and are on 
either side of the choir, and the crypt. These are 
supposed to have belonged to Aldred's abbey, 
which may thus be taken to have become incor- 
porated in the present building. They are of 
Norman origin, or rather date a few years before 
the Conquest. No doubt these parts came, more 
or less, to be touched up and restored by the 
Normans. In 1248, the roof of the nave, an 
Early English addition to the massive Norman 
nave, was finished by Abbot Henry Foliot. The 
Chapter House also is Norman. Compared with 
those at Wells and Lincoln, its simplicity is strik- 
ing. It differs also in another respect. Belonging, 
as it did, to a Benedictine church, it follows the 
shape usually found in churches of that order; 
namely, the square. 

The south aisle was commenced by Abbot 
Thokey in 13 10, and the south transept in 1330. 
About the same time building operations were 
commenced for the north transept and the choir. 
The latter was finished in 1457. 

To the north of the nave lie the cloisters. 
[215] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

These form a most wonderful Early example of 
fan-tracery, constructed some time between 1 35 1 
and 1390. Here in the south end of the cloisters 
were set apart a series of stalls, better known as the 
carrels, in which the monks studied and wrote. 
They may have undergone great hardships and 
austerities, but they evidently had a great sense of 
beauty. They have left us the finest works of 
architecture possible, which have not been sur- 
passed by any modern erection. 

The west front, and the south porch with fan- 
traceried roof, were added in 1421. 

The triforium, carried round in a curve under 
the great east window, forms a narrow passage- 
way from one side of the choir to the other. This 
formation, curiously enough, has constituted quite 
a feature at Gloucester. It is called the "whis- 
pering gallery." There is no evidence that the 
architect intended it. St. Paul's, in London, 
affords another similar example. 

The sculptor's art is represented by many tombs 
of certain merit. There is the tomb erected by 
Abbot Parker to the memory of Osric, King of 
Northumberland, who was one of the founders 
of the monastery, and who died about the eighth 
century. In the north aisle leading to the Lady 
Chapel — which by the way, with its square ending 
[216] 




Pi o 

£d O 

h § 

U w 



GLOUCESTER 

appears like an after-thought, extended eastwards, 
as it were, from the apsidal termination of the 
choir — is a monument covering the remains of 
Robert Duke of Normandy, the eldest son of the 
Conqueror. He was a benefactor to the old abbey. 
His effigy in coloured bog oak is disposed in a 
recumbent attitude on an altar-tomb. There are 
many others, amongst which that of Dr. Jenner, 
famous for the introduction of vaccination into 
general practice, commands great attention. Robert 
Raikes is also represented. He and the Rev. 
Thomas Stock, a rector of St. John the Baptist 
in this city, share the honour of having established 
the first Sunday school in England, which was 
held in Gloucester. Some authorities, however, 
contend that the reverend gentleman was the 
originator of the Sunday school, though they do 
not deny that Raikes, through his unwearied 
exertions, promoted the increase of these institu- 
tions throughout the kingdom. 

But of all the monuments, that erected by the 
monks of Gloucester to the memory of Edward of 
Carnarvon deserves the most attention, not only 
for its beauty, but because it served as the type for 
the Gothic sculptors to copy during two centuries. 
The recumbent effigy is hedged in by a series of 
elaborately decorated shafts, forming a kind of open- 
[ 2 J 9 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

work grille, with pinnacles and niches. Over- 
head it is covered in with richly ornamented 
Gothic work. 

This shrine, constructed to receive the body of 
the murdered Edward II., conveyed thither from 
Berkeley Castle by Abbot Thokey, throughout the 
greater part of Edward III.'s reign continued to 
attract vast numbers of pilgrims. Their offerings 
soon brought in a great revenue, which was spent 
not on rebuilding the church, but in restoring the 
surface, in putting new windows in the old walls, 
and, generally, in adapting the twelfth-century 
building to the Perpendicular style of the four- 
teenth century. In this way the original Norman 
work forms the skeleton to the Perpendicular 
casing. 

In 1 54 1 the Cathedral was separated from the 
diocese of Worcester by Henry VIII. and made 
a distinct bishopric. 

Besides this magnificent pile, Gloucester pos- 
sesses four other churches, which deserve some 
slight notice. There is the Church of St. Mary 
de Lode, said to contain the remains of Lucius, 
the first British king. It has an interesting old 
chancel, and a monument to Bishop Hooper. 

St. Mary de Crypt is a cruciform building of 
the twelfth century, with a beautiful lofty tower. 

[ 220 ] 



GLOUCESTER 

The curfew bell is still rung from the tower of 
St. Michael, which is said to have been connected 
with the ancient abbey of St. Peter. St. Nicholas, 
originally Norman, is now an ancient structure of 
the Early style of English architecture. 

Of schools, one was refounded by Henry VIII. 
for the education of the cathedral choir. An- 
other was established in the same reign by Dame 
Joan Cooke, and was called the Crypt School, 
from the fact of its schoolroom adjoining the 
church of the same name. Sir Thomas Rich, a 
native of Gloucester, in 1666 founded the Blue- 
Coat Hospital, much on the same lines as that of 
Christ's Hospital, recently removed from London 
to the country. 

During the many years that were taken in 
beautifying the Cathedral, we must not forget that 
the city was struggling with varying fortune. It 
might almost be called a royal city, so often was it 
visited by princes, were it not that Winchester claims 
that distinction. In the war between Stephen and 
the Empress Matilda, Gloucester always accorded 
a welcome to the Empress. Thither she is said 
to have escaped after the siege of Winchester, car- 
ried in a coffin. If not true, the story is well 
founded. The city was captured from Henry III. 
by the barons in 1 263. In one of the many Parlia- 
[221 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

ments held at Gloucester, were passed, in i 279, the 
laws connected with the Statute of Quo Warranto, 
better known as the Statutes of Gloucester. 

In 1327 Edward II. was assassinated in Berkeley- 
Castle by his keeper, Sir Thomas Gournay, and 
John de Maltravers, Lord Berkeley. From this 
time Gloucester seems to have enjoyed com- 
parative peace, though its county was the theatre 
of several important historical events enacted 
in its cities of Chichester and Tewkesbury. The 
latter is especially memorable for the great and 
decisive battle, in which the Lancastrians were 
totally defeated, in 1471. On that occasion Mar- 
garet of Anjou, her son Prince Edward, and her 
general, the Duke of Somerset, were taken 
prisoners by Edward IV. After the battle Prince 
Edward was murdered and the Duke of Somerset 
beheaded. In the great contest between Charles I. 
and the Parliament, the city of Gloucester, it is 
true, became an object of importance to the 
success of the royal cause. The city was, however, 
successfully defended for the Parliament by Colonel 
Massie, till relieved in 1643 by the Earl of Essex. 
In the meantime Chichester was taken by Prince 
Rupert. 

The subject-matter of this city has unconsciously 
led us to introduce Tewkesbury and Chichester. 
[ 222 ] 



GLOUCESTER 

Having gone so far we cannot close without first 
drawing attention to the existence of three other 
cities that prominently stand out in this same 
county of Gloucestershire. They are Cheltenham, 
the home of the famous public school ; Tewkes- 
bury, where the decisive battle of the Roses 
was fought ; and Bristol, the great port situated 
near the mouth of the Severn, the river on the 
banks of which lies this ancient cathedral city 
of Gloucester. 



[ 223] 



Hereford 

Hereford. 
(" Doomsday Book.") 

ON the borders of Wales is Herefordshire, 
and almost in the centre of the county is 
its ancient capital, Hereford. A Roman 
station is supposed to have been in the neighbour- 
hood, under the name of Ariconium, which is 
considered to be identical with the present Ken- 
chester. The present name of Hereford is derived 
from the pure Saxon. Like Oxford, it had no 
bridges at first. As the river had to be crossed, 
the shallowest part was chosen. 

This consideration probably determined the site 
of Hereford to be upon the left bank of the river 
Wye, and the pass over it was called by the 
Saxons, Here-ford, or " Military ford." We glean 
little information of this place till the seventh cen- 
tury. An episcopal see is stated to have existed 
in this place before the invasion of Britain by the 
Saxons. From this uncertainty we arrive at some- 
thing more definite, which took place in 655. 
[224] 



HEREFORD 

Oswy, then King of Mercia, in that year made 
Hereford part of the diocese of Lichfield, which 
already wielded jurisdiction over the whole of the 
kingdom of Mercia. 

A few years later it was decided by a synod held 
here under the presidency of Theodore, then Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, in 673, to make a division 
of the diocese of Lichfield. Very naturally Wil- 
ford, then bishop of that see, refused to recognise 
the decree, and for this piece of contumacy was 
subsequently deprived of part of his diocese. His 
successor, Sexulph, however, was more amenable, 
and with his consent Hereford was detached from 
Lichfield and restored to its original independence 
as a separate diocese. Putta was straightway trans- 
lated from Rochester See to become the first 
bishop of Hereford in 680. This instance is one 
of many such in the history of the Church. The 
shuffling of dioceses, the enlargement of one at the 
expense of another, whether from motives of mal- 
ice or a sense of right distribution, occurs usually 
in the early years of Christianity in England, and 
also at the general winding up of the monasteries 
in the reign of Henry VIII. 

Hereford was by no means the only see that 
suffered these changes. It was simply a unit in 
the great policy of welding together the churches 

J 5 [ 225 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

of the several kingdoms into one whole, which had 
never been carried into effect till Theodore of 
Tarsus came to England. He was a Greek monk 
little known till the Pope elected to fill the vacant 
archbishopric of Canterbury. Only three bishops 
were left in the whole of England; of these two were 
rivals for the See of York, and the third had bought 
the See of London. The first thing that Theodore 
did after his arrival was to travel throughout the 
country. By consecrating new bishops and creating 
a thorough organisation, he acquired a complete 
understanding with the Church. He also insti- 
tuted a system of synods, which he intended should 
meet annually to discuss the general welfare of the 
Church. This, however, seems to have fallen into 
disuse. 

In all, Theodore managed to divide England into 
a matter of fifteen dioceses, through the subdivision 
of the old dioceses. Truly a great achievement 
when we remember that the conversion of the 
English kingdoms mostly depended upon the good- 
will of their respective kings. Thus it came about 
that one king in each kingdom had one bishop, 
generally his chaplain at first, who took his title, 
not from a see, but from the people. He was 
either bishop of Mercia, or Northumbria, or some 
other large kingdom. As we have seen in the 
[226] 



HEREFORD 

collision with Wilford, Theodore's policy did not 
suit every prelate's views. His influence, however, 
effected the installation of three bishops in North- 
umbria, four in Mercia, two in East Anglia, and 
two in Wessex. Kent already had two since 604. 

Thus the result was the complete conversion of 
England, effected by Theodore from about 673 to 
688 a. d. 

Prior to the eighth century Hereford is known 
to have been the capital of the kingdom of Mercia, 
as it is now of Herefordshire, which is much 
reduced in size. From the years 765 to 791 Mercia 
was governed by King Offa. Apart from his con- 
nection with the Cathedral of Hereford, his reign 
must possess some interest to the collectors of coins. 
For though the die-sinker's art was practised in 
England as far back as the Roman occupation, and 
an indigenous coinage came into existence in the 
seventh century, it is not till this monarch's reign 
that genuine English coinage was properly in 
currency. It appears that Offa had to pay an 
annual tribute of 365 mancuses in coin to the Pope. 
As a mancus was equal to 30 pennies, the sum was 
a considerable one. 

In the year 782 an event occurred which laid 
the foundation of the Cathedral. From Marden, 
the original place of sepulture, the body of Ethel- 
[ 227 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

bert, King of the East Angles (who, by the way, 
is not to be confounded with Ethelbert of Kent, 
who welcomed St. Augustine), was removed to 
Hereford. He had been treacherously slain by his 
intended mother-in-law, the Queen of Mercia. In 
expiation of the murder King Offa, with munificent 
donations, enabled a nobleman called Milfride, a 
viceroy under Egbert, to found the Cathedral about 
825. The building was dedicated to St. Mary and 
St. Ethelbert. It fell into decay in less than two 
centuries and necessitated a rebuilding during the 
prelacy of Bishop Athelstan, between 1012 and 
1 01 5. It was burnt by the Welsh in 1055, and 
remained in ruins till 1079, when the first Norman 
bishop, Robert of Lorraine, was appointed to the 
See. 

He commenced a new edifice on the lines of 
Aken, now Aix-la-Chapelle. It was carried on, 
with the exception of the tower left to be erected 
by Bishop Giles de Braos in the following century, 
by Bishop Raynelm, in 1 1 07, and eventually com- 
pleted in 1 148 by Bishop R. de Betum. 

The plan is the usual cross. A lofty tower rises 
from the intersection, and was formerly surmounted 
by a spire, taken down for safety's sake. The 
screen and reredos, the pillars, the arches of naves, 
and the north and south arches of the choir belong 
[228] 




HEREFORD 

THE NORTH TRANSEPT 



HEREFORD 

to the Norman period. The Early English claims 
the triforium, the Lady Chapel, clerestory, and the 
stone vaulting. The north transept is by Bishop 
Aquablanca, 1 245-1 268, whilst the south-east 
transept dates from the Late Decorated style. 

For over 450 years a number of additions and 
restorations have afforded every facility for the 
skill of the architect, not always happily taken 
advantage of. The great western tower unfortu- 
nately fell down in 1786, and caused considerable 
damage to the west front and adjacent work. Mr. 
Wyatt, during modern restorations, in 1842 and 
1863, rebuilt the tower. The west front, soon 
after its misfortune, was restored in a style different 
from the original. The whole exterior of this 
edifice presents a curious variety of architectural 
style. This capitulation of bishops and dates is 
possibly dry reading, but it is absolutely necessary 
to determine the date of the different erections 
and restorations, and their successive styles of 
architecture. 

Near the choir was the shrine of St. Ethelbert, 
which was destroyed during the Commonwealth 
of Cromwell. Another attraction to the pilgrims 
was the tomb erected to the memory of Bishop 
Cantelupe, who died in 1282. His heart was 
brought to Hereford and buried in the north 
[ 23 1 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

transept of the Cathedral, and he was canonised in 
i 3 1 o. The pilgrims resorted to this place, as it 
was reputed that no less than four hundred miracles 
had been performed there. In consequence of this 
the succeeding bishops altered the quarterings of 
their ancient arms, which were those of St. Ethel- 
bert, and assumed the paternal coat of Cantelupe. 
This change constitutes the present arms of the 
bishopric. 

Amongst many other memorials is one to Bishop 
Aquablanca. A plain marble tablet was also 
erected to the memory of John Philips, a well- 
known author of poems entitled " The Splendid 
Shilling," and " Cyder." 

Perhaps the most interesting item, as well as the 
most curious of all the old maps, is the " Mappa 
Mundi," preserved in the south choir aisle. It 
was compiled somewhere about 1275 to 1300, by 
a monk of Lincoln. How it ever came to Here- 
ford appears to be an enigma. The most likely 
solution is that the monk may have been trans- 
ferred from Lincoln to this see. 

The " Hereford Map," as it is called, is a great 
picture, more to be classed as a grotesque work of 
art than a valuable aid to geography. It is, at 
least, a gigantic attempt to represent the whole 
world, with the introduction of the main features, 
[ 232] 



HEREFORD 

the people, industries, and products of each country. 
It is one mass of legendary figures, and the farther 
we get from England, which is hardly recognisable, 
the more grotesque and improbable become the 
monsters. The Minotaurs and Gog-Magog of 
Tartary, the dog-faced, the horse-footed, and flap- 
eared freaks of nature of the far east, together with 
the one-legged, one-eyed, four-eyed, headless, and 
hermaphrodite tribes who fringe the Torrid Zone, 
give us an interesting idea of the imposition by 
travellers upon the minds of the people of that 
period, the thirteenth century. Even the fishes, 
supposed to be peculiar to each sea, are carefully 
depicted. Truly it is a wonderful work of imagi- 
nation, not the less to be respected for that, and 
quite alone deserves a journey to Hereford. 

An epitome of the chief historical events of the 
city will be a sufficient guide to its status. Except 
cider making, it has no industries of special note. 

To the fortifications erected in the time of 
Athelstan, and nearly perfected in Leland's time, 
was added a castle by Edward the Elder. In 1055, 
two miles from this place, Griffith the Prince of 
Wales defeated Ralph Earl of Hereford ; and the 
Welsh, having thus taken the city, spent their time 
in reducing it to a heap of ruins. Harold, after- 
wards king, attacked and defeated the Welsh, and 
[ 2 33l 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

repaired and enlarged the fortifications in view of 
further invasions. In the conflicts between Stephen 
and the Empress Maud, Hereford was successfully 
defended for the latter by Milo, to be reduced by 
the King in 1 141. At the commencement of the 
parliamentary war, Hereford was garrisoned for 
the King, but surrendered, without a blow being 
struck, to the army of Sir William Waller in 1643. 
On the retreat of this knight the Royalists occu- 
pied it, and under the governorship of Barnabas 
Scudamore, Esquire, made a stubborn resistance 
against the Scots, under the Earl of Leven, and 
obliged them to raise the siege. 

The inhabitants, at the Restoration, for their 
loyalty to the royal cause, received from Charles II. 
a new charter with extended privileges, and new 
heraldic arms testifying to their fidelity to the 
House of Stuart. Previous to this Charles I. 
had been generous enough to reward the many 
sacrifices and sufferings of the loyal citizens by 
granting the city its motto of 

Invictae fidelitatis praemium. 



[234] 




Lincoln 

Lincolia. 
(" Doomsday Book.") 

HE commercial importance of Lincoln, 
whatever it may be now, was at one time 
considerable. At the time of the Norman 
survey it commanded sufficient attention to cause 
the entry of the city in the " Doomsday Book " 
as one of the leading centres of commerce. This 
happy state was continued, or rather increased, by 
the famous Ordinance of the Staple in the reign of 
Edward III. He was an ambitious monarch, and 
desired to become master of France. If we recall 
the battles of Cressy and Poitiers, we can readily 
understand what an enormous expenditure would 
be required for the proper conduct of the war. 
By some means or other the English revenues had 
to be found. This was met to a great extent by 
the Ordinance of the Wool Staple, enacted by 
Edward III., who, besides waging war in France, 
was keen on the extension of foreign trade. By 
charters granted to merchants of Gascony, who 
[ 235] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

imported wine and other commodities, and by- 
giving special protection to the Flemish weavers in 
England, the King enhanced the prospects of trade. 
But the most important of all his commercial 
projects was, as we have said, his scheme, finally- 
declared in 1353, by which a staple for English 
exports was established under the direct control of 
the Crown. Thus the monopoly of wool, which 
accrued so advantageously to Bruges and other 
cities on the Continent, and had become unbear- 
able, was in 1353 transferred to England. For the 
exclusive sale of wool ten English towns were 
chosen. They were situated within easy distance 
of the coast, or the town was in connection with a 
convenient port. Of these ten towns with corre- 
sponding ports, Lincoln with Boston was chosen as 
a staple town for wool. This with other sources 
of trade, such as the staple of lead and leather, 
flourished in Lincoln from Edward III.'s time till 
the commencement of the eighteenth century, 
when the trade of the town declined. Through 
the several plagues prevalent in the fourteenth 
century, such as the black death and other epi- 
demics similar in death-dealing if not in charac- 
ter at that time, especially about the year I 390, 
many towns in England were much decayed. 
Except London, York, Bristol, Coventry, and Ply- 
[236] 



LINCOLN 

mouth, the afflicted towns did not regain the 
population they enjoyed in the fourteenth cen- 
tury till the Tudor period, and some, notably 
Sarum and Leicester, not until late in the reign of 
Elizabeth. The decline of Lincoln, though pro- 
gressive, in a way appears to have been truly a 
gradual decay, and more terrible in its impercep- 
tible undermining than any knock-down blow, for 
it never recovered its old trade prosperity ; whilst 
Norwich, which before the plagues was next to 
London, bore relatively and even greater and 
sharper evidence of the terrible visitation, yet 
managed somehow to hark back in a measure to 
days of its former glory. The old saying which 
ran " Lincoln was, London is, York shall be " 
indicates, far more than anything else, the change 
of Lincoln's fortunes. Whatever its shortcomings 
may be, Lincoln possesses a most interesting 
record of antiquity. Its minster is truly a gem, 
for it is not only the earliest example of a pure 
Gothic building in Europe, but presents a delight- 
ful study of every kind of style, from the early 
Norman down to the Late Decorated. 

Of the many characteristics of this interesting 

edifice — the foundation of Remigius — we will 

note the chief. The building material consists 

of the oolite and calcareous stone of Lincoln 

[237 1 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Heath and Hay dor, the surface of which, when 
worked upon with tools, appears to become 
quite hardened. 

Remigius adopted the plan of the church at 
Rouen as the model of his foundation, which he 
laid in 1086. It was completed by his successor, 
Bishop Bloet. The accidental fire that broke out 
gave his successor, Bishop Alexander, the oppor- 
tunity of repairing it. To prevent a like occur- 
rence, this prelate conceived and carried out his 
idea of covering the aisles with a vaulted roof 
of stone. It had a disastrous effect in that its 
pressure weighed too heavily upon the walls. It 
necessitated a thorough overhauling by St. Hugh, 
a subsequent bishop, in the reign of Henry II. 
He rebuilt the church upon a plan then newly 
introduced, and greatly enlarged it by taking down 
the east end and re-erecting it upon a far bigger 
scale. Since his time the Cathedral has undergone 
several alterations and embellishments at the foster- 
ing care of several succeeding prelates. On the 
magnificent central tower there used to be a lofty 
spire, which was blown down in 1547. The two 
western towers were also deprived of their spires 
in 1808 to avert a similar calamity. The approx- 
imate dates of the different portions of the Cathe- 
dral are : 

[238] 



LINCOLN 

The central west front and the font belong to 
Remigius' period. 

The three west portals and Norman portion of 
the west tower above the screen to the third story 
are 1 148. 

The nave, its aisles, and north and south chapels 
of the west end were finished in 1220. 

The Early English work of the west front and 
the upper portions of the north and south wings 
with the pinnacle turrets date from 1225. 

The west porch of the main transept is 1220. 

The lower courses of the central tower date 
from 1235, while the upper ones originated in 1 307. 

The gables, the upper parts of the main 
transept, the parapets of the south side of the nave, 
the south wing, the west front, and the screen in 
the south aisle take us back again to the year 
1225. The subsequent additions are: 

The west door of the choir aisles in 1 240 ; the 
south porch of the presbytery in 1256 ; the choir 
screens in 1280, and ten years later the Easter 
Sepulchre. The fine circular window at the end 
of the north transept, and especially the ones in 
the south transept, attract considerable attention. 
They are called respectively "The Dean's Eye" 
and " The Bishop's Eye," and are supposed to 
belong to the year 1350. Perhaps they are better 
16 [ 241 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

known as the rose windows, which were more 
popular in France than in England. They exhibit 
a network of interlacing stems in imitation of the 
freedom of the briar-rose, and show the advanced 
skill of the workmen upon the plate-tracery they 
formerly put up as a masterpiece in the close 
vicinity of the rose windows. 

For purposes of fortification, if necessary, 
Remigius chose the summit of the hill close to 
the Castle as the site. The Cathedral, dedicated to 
the Virgin Mary, thus, from its commanding 
station, forms a magnificent object seen from many 
miles around, and in the days of pilgrimage must 
have held out a welcome beacon of hope to the 
weary pilgrims. 

Of the many famous prelates of this see must 
be mentioned Remigius, Bloet, St. Hugh, and 
Fleming, who died in 143 1 . The latter was the 
founder of Lincoln College at Oxford. Just at the 
back of this college is situated the well-known 
college of Brazennose, the foundation of another 
Lincoln Bishop, namely Smith, who died in 1521. 

Again, Polydore Vergil, W. Paley, Cartwright 
the inventor of the power loom, and O. Manning 
the celebrated topographer are some of the many 
capitular members of whom Lincoln may well be 
proud. 

[242] 



LINCOLN 

Another attraction that Lincoln possesses in its 
vicinity is the race-course just beyond Newland. 

For the early history of Lincoln we must 
go as far back as the Saxon days. After the 
departure of the Romans, Lincoln was the chief 
city of the district. It was the capital of the 
kingdom of Mercia, as it now is of the county of 
Lincolnshire. 

Besides being described like other cities as 
being locally in the county of Lincoln, it is said to 
be in the wapentake. This is a departure from 
the " hundred " only in name, not in purpose. In 
the northern counties of England the wapentakes 
denoted the usual divisions answering to the 
hundreds of other counties. The origin of the 
wapentake is woepenge-toc, woepentac, from 
the Icelandic vapnatak. It literally means a 
weapon-taking or weapon-touching, and became 
an expression of assent. It was anciently invari- 
ably the custom to touch lances or spears when 
the hundreder, or chief, entered in his office. 
Tacitus, in the " Germania," gives a full descrip- 
tion of this interesting rite. 

In the Low Countries words very similar appear 

as the names of streets. At Bruges, in Belgium, 

there is the " Wapen-makers Straat," which means 

nothing more or less than that in that street was 

[ 2 43l 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

originally carried on an industry of warlike im- 
plements made by " weapon-makers." 

In this wise Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and 
Nottinghamshire were divided into wapentakes 
instead of " hundreds." 

Another peculiar distinction of this city was its 
former government by a portreve. The term is 
now obsolete, but in the old English law it 
denoted the chief magistrate of a port or maritime 
town. In its old form it was written " portgerefa," 
a combined word meaning port, a harbour, and 
" gerefa," a reeve or sheriff. In the third year of 
the reign of George I. the city, with a district of 
twenty miles round it, was erected into a county, 
under the designation of " The City and County 
of the City of Lincoln." It was also entered as a 
maritime county. The extreme flatness of the 
Lincolnshire coast, with the slow sluggishness of 
the lower part of the course of the rivers, caused, 
in remote ages, the inundation of a great tract of 
land. The feasibility of reclaiming some portion 
of these fens received the attention of the Romans. 
They constructed the large drain called the car- 
dyke, signifying the fen-dyke, carrying it from 
the river Witham, near Lincoln, to the river 
Welland on the southern side of the county, with 
the object of draining the waters from the high 
[ 2 44] 




LINCOLN 

THE STEEP HILL 



LINCOLN 

grounds and of preventing the inundation of the 
low grounds. This policy was adopted in subse- 
quent reigns with great success, and is even to this 
day continued. It has been the means of bringing 
rich tracts of land into cultivation, and of dis- 
pelling the unhealthy miasma which once caused 
the great prevalency of the ague fever. From 
fragments of vessels found near its channel it is 
affirmed that large ships of bygone days could 
formerly sail up the river Witham from Boston 
to Lincoln, but now it is only navigable for 
barges. 

In 1 121 Henry I. materially altered the great 
Foss-Dyke, extending a matter of eight miles from 
a great marsh near Lincoln to the river Trent, to 
serve the double purpose of draining the adjacent 
level and of constructing a high waterway for 
vessels from the Trent to Lincoln. 

For defraying the expenses of draining, it appears 
that in general a rate was levied upon all lands in 
the contiguous wapentakes. 

With this preface of the general character of 
the district, we propose to give a history of the 
city from its commencement. 

On the summit of a hill close to the river 
Lindis, which is now called the Witham, the 
ancient Britons established a city of considerable 
[247] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

importance from the most remote period of the 
British history. They christened the city after 
the original name of the river. This, on the 
invasion of Britain, passed into the hands of the 
Romans. They made it one of their chief stations 
in this part of England and established a colony. 
Instead of calling the city something " cester," 
they appear to have Latinised the Celtic name, 
signifying " the hill port by the pool," and called 
it Lindum Colonia. Through process of time and 
differences of pronunciation, consequent on the 
various dialects spoken successively by the Saxons, 
Danes, and Normans, the title became abbreviated 
to Lin-coln. The date of the Roman occupation 
is given as being in the year i oo a. d. 

Their plan of the city consisted of the form of 
a parallelogram about 400 yards in length by the 
same number of yards in breadth, defended by 
massive, strong walls and intersected by two streets 
running at right angles. 

Presumably the extremities of these streets pointed 
to the four cardinal points. They terminated in 
gates, the sole one of which — an excellent example 
of Roman architecture in England — is the North 
Gate, or, as it is generally called, Newport. It is 
composed of a central arch, with two lesser ones, 
one on either side, and is on a lower level than that 
[248] 



LINCOLN 

of the street. Through this gate passes the great 
Roman Road called Ermine Street, out into the 
country for a distance of about ten miles or so. 
To the south-west of this entrance is supposed to 
have been a mint. This seems to be borne out by 
the discovery of many Roman coins found in the 
vicinity. The Exchequer Gate is a very fine 
specimen of the thirteenth century. It bears a 
carved representation of the Crucifixion, which 
lends it considerable interest. 

At the top of High Street is Pottergate and 
Stonebow, over which is the Guildhall. The 
latter is an ancient embattled structure, rebuilt in 
the reign of Richard II. 

Besides the Northgate, the Romans appear, 
according to remains found, to have contributed the 
inevitable bath and sudatorium. On their depart- 
ure from Britain, Lincoln was made the capital of 
the kingdom of Mercia by the Saxons in 518. 
Vortimer, who endeavoured to oppose them, was 
slain and interred here. From 786 Lincoln suffered 
repeatedly from visitations of the Danes, control 
being recovered by Edmund II., according to 
agreement with Canute in 1016. Throughout the 
whole of this period the only peace the city had 
enjoyed was when Alfred the Great subdued the 
Danes. However, Edmund II., better known as 
[ 249] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Edmund Ironsides, did not live many days longer, 
being murdered at Oxford. Whereupon, in 1017, 
Canute took possession of the murdered monarch's 
territory, in which Lincoln was included. Wil- 
liam I. then came along in 1086, swept away close 
upon two hundred houses to make room for the erec- 
tion of a castle — on a site which meant the occu- 
pation of nearly one-fourth of the old Roman city. 

The Castle still has traces of Norman work, the 
foundations of which were formed of enormous 
beams of wood and a mixture of thin, coarse mortar, 
used for pouring into the joints of masonry and 
brickwork, usually called " grouting." 

In that wonderful survey of his — the "Dooms- 
day Book" — fifty-two parishes are stated to have 
composed this city. 

The Castle in 1140 figured in the disputes 
between the Empress Matilda and Stephen, the 
latter of whom was crowned here in 1141. 
Stephen was, however, made prisoner, but was 
afterwards exchanged, and lived three years later 
to celebrate Christmas here. But prior to this 
period Lincoln was for the first time erected into 
a see in the reign of William Rufus. 

In pursuance of a decree of a synod held at 
London at this time, that all the episcopal sees 
should be removed to fortified places, Remigius, 
[ 250] 




LINCOLN 

THE WEST TOWERS 



LINCOLN 

the Bishop of Dorchester, determined to establish 
the seat of his diocese at Lincoln. He built the 
church and an episcopal palace, but died just before 
its consecration. 

His work was completed by his successor, 
Robert Bloet. In the reign of Henry II. the 
Diocese, which once extended from the Thames 
to the Humber, was curtailed to add a part to 
form that of Ely. It again suffered diminution 
in Henry VIII. 's time, when the limits of the 
Sees of Oxford and Peterborough were defined. 
In spite of it all, Lincoln's see is fairly extensive, 
though it suffered again in 1884. Prior to this 
monarch's reign Lincoln had as many as fifty-two 
churches, but when he decided upon reforma- 
tion from Popery their number was greatly dimin- 
ished. Their names, still preserved, are the sole 
reminders of their former existence, with the 
exception of fourteen which remain. These have 
probably been rebuilt. 

Before entering further concerning the See, and 
the Cathedral founded by Remigius, which was 
constantly in the hands of the architect even down 
to recent years, we shall add the chief political 
events subsequent to Stephen. On the death of 
this monarch, Henry II., probably not satisfied 
with his coronation in London, underwent the 
[253] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

ceremony again at Wigford, a place just a little to 
the south of Lincoln city. 

John here early in his reign received the homage 
of David the King of Scotland. During the struggle 
with the barons in 1216 the citizens remained 
loyal to their sovereign ; but their city was taken 
at last in 1 2 1 7, and invested by the barons under 
Gilbert de Gaunt, afterwards created Earl of 
Lincoln. After the disaster that overtook John's 
army in the passage across the Wash, and his death, 
which took place soon afterwards, his son Henry 
III. was loyally assisted by the inhabitants against 
the barons, who had summoned to their aid Louis, 
the Dauphin of France. The Castle, however, 
remained for many years in the possession of the 
Crown. Eventually it became the summer resi- 
dence of the celebrated John of Gaunt. He was 
Earl of Lincoln, and in 1396 married here Lady 
Swinford, who was a sister-in-law to Chaucer. 

Several times Parliament was held in Lincoln ; 
namely, twice by Edward I., and in 1 301 and 1 305 ; 
twice also by Edward II. ; and in the first year of 
Edward IIL's reign. 

Henry VI. paid a visit, as did also Henry VII., 
who held a public thanksgiving for his victory 
over Richard III. at the battle of Bosworth Field. 

Throughout the parliamentary war the inhabit- 
[254] 



LINCOLN 

ants were staunch supporters of the Crown. The 
city was stormed by Earl Manchester, an indefati- 
gable soldier of Cromwell. The Commonwealth 
troopers during their occupation created consider- 
able havoc in the ecclesiastical buildings. Accord- 
ing to their invariable custom they stabled their 
horses and housed themselves within the cathedral 
walls. Not satisfied with that, they damaged the 
tombs and deprived the niches of their statuary. 

To go back a matter of four hundred years 
to this period, the population of Lincoln rose 
en masse against the Jews. They were alleged 
to have crucified a little Lincoln boy, presum- 
ably a Christian, at a place called Dunestall in 
the year 1255. The enraged mob wreaked their 
vengeance by causing the execution of eighteen 
Jews, murdering many more, and later on making 
a saint of the victim, under the name of " little 
Saint Hugh." The punishment seems to be out 
of proportion to the crime. In fact little 
Hugh's crucifixion appears rather to have served 
as an excuse for the wrongful persecution of 
the Semitic race than for the proper admin- 
istration of the law irrespective of creed. Even 
to this day this regrettable racial feeling is 
kept alive. In the middle ages this bitter feel- 
ing was fostered and brought about chiefly owing 
[255] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

to the wonderful success of the Jews in England, 
who grew rich upon the profits accruing to usury, 
which they alone might exercise. Among many 
prominent instances of popular vengeance, besides 
little St. Hugh's murder, are the tombs of boy- 
martyrs, shrines which became often the most 
popular in the Cathedral. 

The most characteristic are the records of the 
burials, attended with great pomp, of St. William of 
Norwich in 1144, Harold of Gloucester in 1168, 
Robert of Edmundsbury in 1 1 84, a nameless boy in 
London in 1 244, and St. Hugh of Lincoln in 1255; 
boys canonised by the populace simply through 
bitter racial feeling. Remains of the shrine of 
little St. Hugh are still extant at Lincoln. 

Among the many interesting antiquities of 
Lincoln is a fine specimen of the Norman domestic 
architecture. It is called the Jews' House, and it 
is an edifice of curious design. Its mouldings 
much resemble those of the west portals of the 
Cathedral, a date which probably would be 1 184. 
The house belonged to a Jewess called Belaset de 
Wallingford. She was hanged in the reign of 
Edward I. for clipping the coin. 

Besides this are noticeable the ancient conduits 
of St. Mary le Wigford, which is Gothic, and the 
Greyfriars Conduit in High Street. 
[256] 



LINCOLN 

In the cloister garden are preserved a tesselated 
pavement and the sepulchral slab of a Roman 
soldier. From the same place the splendidly 
carved stone coffin lid of Bishop Remigius has 
recently been removed into the interior of the 
Cathedral. 

In the years 1884 to 1891 excavations were 
conducted on the site of the old " Angel Inn," 
when it was discovered that it had been a Roman 
burial-place. Amongst the debris were found 
several funeral urns. Under St. Peter's at Gowts 
was brought to light a Roman altar, and remains 
of a Roman villa were unearthed at Greetwell. 
In the same year, that is to say 1884, the Blue 
Coat School was closed, its endowments were given 
to the Middle School, and the buildings were sold 
to the Church Institute. 

Within the last few years two memorable events 
occurred. In the year 1884 the See of Lincoln 
was deprived of the county of Nottingham, which 
was transferred from that see to the See of South- 
well. This was followed shortly afterwards by the 
great lawsuit called " The Lincoln Judgment." 

Great controversy arose and came to a climax. 

In the year 1888 Dr. King, the Bishop of Lincoln, 

was cited before his metropolitan, Dr. Benson, the 

Archbishop of Canterbury, to answer charges of 

17 [ 2 57 1 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

various ritual offences alleged to have been com- 
mitted by himself at the administration of the 
Holy Communion. 

The action was brought by certain gentlemen 
of Lincoln interested in the doings of their prelate. 
Their religious scruples had been outraged, it 
appears, on two separate occasions ; namely, in the 
Church of St. Peter's at Gowts on December 4, 

1887, and in the Cathedral on December 10 of the 
same year. An appeal had been made to the 
Archbishop to restrain these illegal practices. 
The celebrated ecclesiastical lawsuit was heard in 

1888. The judgment was confined to the declara- 
tions of the law, which were summarised. No 
monition or sentence was pronounced against the 
Bishop of Lincoln for having committed breaches 
of the ecclesiastical law. The dissension has 
happily ended. The Bishop of Lincoln has con- 
formed his practice to the Archbishop's judgment 
from the date of its delivery, and still retains his 
bishopric. Thus has ended the conflict between 
the Primate and the Suffragan, which agitated, for 
a brief space of time, the opponents of offences of 
ritualism, and brought about the famous Lincoln 
Judgment. 



[258] 



Bath 

Baden-ceaster. 
(" Doomsday Book.") 

ON the banks of the river Avon, in the 
County of Somersetshire, is situated the 
beautiful and ancient city of Bath. Its 
ecclesiastical history is closely bound up with that 
of Wells, and at one time with that of Glaston- 
bury, when it figures in the disputes concerning 
the See. This unseemly quarrelling amongst pre- 
lates is now happily laid at rest. Though lacking 
in all authority, Bath is the joint partner of Wells 
in the bishopric title. 

The origin of the city of Bath takes us far back. 
Perhaps the strongest link with the Roman days, 
besides the Roman roads, lies in the present-day 
existence of the Roman baths, built about $$ B.C. 
These baths were probably erected to confine 
the hot springs, and to enjoy more thoroughly the 
benefit derived from the medicinal properties of 
these waters, which are chalybeate and saline. 
[259] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Though we are told that in all probability it is 
a mere myth that the British king, Bladud, first 
founded this city of Bath, yet we are inclined to 
think that the presence of these springs would 
influence a settlement of even the nomadic British, 
prior to the Roman invasion. 

When we remember what primitive ideas the 
early Britons had, we cannot wonder at the non- 
existence of any vestiges of their occupation. In 
these days of materialism one loves to respect old 
traditions, however uncertain they may be in sub- 
stance. We would therefore give the benefit of 
the doubt to an early British settlement. 

With the arrival of the Romans the approxi- 
mate date and origin of Bath can be readily ascer- 
tained. From excavations on the place since the 
year 1875, it has been proved that the Romans 
founded here a city, which they named Aquae 
Solis, in the reign of Claudius. In 55 B.C. the 
baths had been constructed for certain. In addi- 
tion to this they erected a temple to Minerva, 
with votive offerings, and many other buildings, 
and carried a line of fortifications and walls around 
the city. The remains of their marvellous archi- 
tecture still bear testimony, though they have 
suffered ill-treatment and undergone restoration, 
to their former magnificence and grandeur. 
[ 260 ] 



BATH 

On the retirement of the Romans Aquae Solis 
passed into the hands of the Britons, under the 
name of Ccer Palladen (the city of the waters of 
Pallas). During their possession of a century, two 
attacks made by the Saxon chieftains, CElla and 
Cerdic, were repulsed by King Arthur. 

The Saxons, by the year $yj, having practically 
subverted the rest of the kingdom, turned their 
attention to the West. They seized and ravaged 
Bath. The Roman structures were reduced to 
ruins. After a while they rebuilt the walls and 
fortifications upon the original foundations, em- 
ploying the old materials. The baths also were 
soon restored. By this time the Saxons had re- 
named the city, "Hat Bathur " (Hot baths), and 
" Ace-mannes-ceaster " (City of invalids). The 
"ceaster" tacked on to the Saxon word is the first 
evidence we get of the Saxon recognition of the 
former existence of the Roman occupation of this 
city. 

With the spreading influence of Christianity 
travelling from the east to the west of England in 
the seventh century, a nunnery was erected here, 
in 676, by King Osric. This was destroyed during 
the wars of the Heptarchy, and on its site a college 
of secular canons was founded, in 7J$, by Offa, 
King of Mercia. This monarch had taken Bath 
[261] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

from the King of Wessex, and had annexed it to 
his own kingdom. Possibly in recognition of this 
victory he built an abbey in JJS- 

After this the city evidently increased in pros- 
perity, for it was important enough to witness the 
coronation of Edgar in 973, as King of England, 
by Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. At the 
same time Edgar converted the college of secular 
canons into a Benedictine monastery. This, with 
the church, was again demolished by the Danes. 

This city of Bath, like all other cities of that 
time, came under the Norman Survey, and was 
entered in Doomsday Book as Baden-ceaster. 
William Rufus had scarce been crowned king 
when Bath was seized and burnt, the most part 
by Geoffry, Bishop of Coutances, and Robert de 
Mowbray. They had jointly risen in support of 
the claim laid to the throne of England by Robert 
Duke of Normandy. But under the abbacy of 
John de Villula it soon recovered prosperity. 
This abbot, on promotion to the See of Wells, 
about 1090, purchased the city from Henry I. 
He built a new church, and removed the See from 
Wells to this place. Here it remained till 1 1 93, 
when Bishop Savaricus handed it over to Richard L, 
in exchange for Glastonbury Abbey. 

About this time Bath received its first charter as 
[262] 



BATH 

a free borough from this monarch, and was repre- 
sented in Parliament in 1297. In 1330 the 
manufacture of woollen cloth was established by 
the monks. By reason of this the shuttle was 
incorporated in the arms of the monastery. In 
1447, and in 1590, Henry VI. and Elizabeth 
respectively granted charters, which materially 
increased the prospects of the city. 

This present cruciform Abbey Church dates 
from 1499. It is dedicated to St. Peter and 
St. Paul, and forms one of the best specimens of 
the later style of English architecture. It rests 
upon the site of the conventual church of the 
monastery founded by Osric. After a course of 
eight hundred years it became dilapidated, and 
was rebuilt from the old materials in 1495, by 
Bishop Oliver King. He is said to have been 
admonished in a dream. He did not live to see 
the completion of the building. 

As the citizens refused to purchase it from the 
Commissioners of Henry VIII., the walls were left 
roofless till Dr. James Montague, Bishop of the 
Diocese, with the aid of the local nobility and 
gentry, procured the necessary funds, and finished 
it in 1606. 

On the west front is sculptured the founder's 
dream of angels ascending and descending on 
[265] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Jacob's ladder. The church is crowned with a 
quadrangular tower of 162 feet in height from 
the point of intersection. 

Though the medicinal properties of the springs 
of Bath attracted from the earliest times the con- 
tinuous attention of invalids, it was only under 
the guidance of Beau Nash, the gamester, and the 
enterprise of John Wood, the architect, that it 
reached to the highest pinnacle of fame as a place 
of fashionable resort in the eighteenth century. 
The works of Fielding, Smollett, Jane Austen, 
Dickens, Thackeray, and others, give us a clear 
insight into the meteor-like prosperity of the city, 
for, after the death of Nash, it gradually relapsed 
to its normal state, and, in fact, according to 
statistics, the number of inhabitants has decreased 
even within the last few years. 

A brief sketch of Beau Nash and the means 
adopted will account in some measure for the 
marvellous change in Bath in the eighteenth 
century. Nash was educated at Carmarthen 
Grammar School, and Jesus College, Oxford. 
He then obtained a commission in the army. 
This he soon threw up to become a law-student 
at the Middle Temple. Whilst there he gained 
much attention by his wit and sociability. These 
qualities induced his fellow-students to elect him 
[266] 



BATH 

as the president of a pageant that they prepared 
for William III. The king was so pleased with 
Nash that, it is said, he offered him a knighthood. 
This Nash refused unless accompanied by a pension, 
which was not granted. 

He was much addicted to gambling, which, in 
addition to a restless spirit and an empty purse, led 
him in 1704 to try his luck at Bath, a place which 
then offered opportunities to a gamester. There he 
soon became master of the ceremonies, in succes- 
sion to Captain Webster. Under his authority re- 
forms were introduced which speedily accorded to 
Bath a leading position as a fashionable watering- 
place. He formed a strict code of rules for the 
regulation of balls and assemblies; allowed no 
swords to be worn in places of public amuse- 
ment; persuaded gentlemen to discard boots for 
shoes and stockings when in assemblies and parades, 
and introduced a tariff for lodgings. 

As insignia of his office he wore an immense 
white hat, and a richly embroidered dress. He 
drove about in a chariot with six greys, and laced 
lackeys blew French horns. When Parliament 
abolished gambling it caused a serious check to 
the visits of fashionable people to the city. How- 
ever, the Corporation, in recognition of his valuable 
services, granted Nash a pension of 120 guineas a 
[267] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

year, and at his death in 1761 he was buried with 
splendour at the expense of the town. A year 
after his demise his biography was anonymously 
published in London by Oliver Goldsmith. 

John Wood, the architect, though hardly as well 
known to posterity as Nash, must not be over- 
looked. Till he appeared in Bath in 1728, the 
city had been confined strictly within the Roman 
limits. The suburbs consisted merely of a few 
scattered houses. Wood improved and enlarged 
the city by his architectural efforts, which led to 
the quarrying of freestone found existing in the 
neighbourhood. His successors carried on his 
enterprise. 

The grand Pump-room, erected in 1797, with a 
portico of Corinthian columns ; the King's Bath, 
with a Doric colonnade ; the Queen's Bath ; the 
Cross Bath, so called from a cross erected in the 
centre of it ; the Hot Bath, on account of its 
superior degree of heat, were once thronged by 
fashionable gatherings in the eighteenth and nine- 
teenth centuries. 

The architecture in the eighteenth century at 
Bath was an adaptation of the Doric and Ionic 
orders. Nearly all the principal buildings were 
constructed after these classic principles. St. 
Michael's Church belongs to the Doric, with a 
[268] 



BATH 

handsome dome, and was erected in 1744. Even 
the Greek influence is the prevailing feature of 
Pulteney Bridge. 

In conclusion, amongst eminent men of Bath 
may be mentioned : John Hales, Greek Professor 
at Oxford in 161 2; and Sir Thomas Bodley, 
founder of the Bodleian Library at Oxford, was a 
native of, and received his early education in the 
Grammar School of this city. Benjamin Robins 
was born here in 1707; he was a celebrated 
mathematician, and wrote the account of the 
voyage of Commodore Anson round the world. 

Amongst the tombs in the Abbey are those to 
the memory of Quin, Nash, Broome, Malthus, and 
Melmothe. 

The hot springs of Bath still continue to alleviate 
the aches and pains of invalid visitors. The inter- 
esting history, the curious mingling of Roman 
and Later English architecture with the revival 
of the Ionic and Doric orders in the eighteenth- 
century buildings, can never fail to be of interest 
alike to the student and the casual visitor in Bath. 



[269] 



Salisberie. 
(" Doomsday Book.") 



/"N* ALISBURY affords a remarkable instance of 
•^^^ the complete transference of the cathedral 
J^--J followed by the ultimate desertion of the 
city in the change from old Sarum, the original 
site, to New Sarum, another within a short distance 
— one might almost say within a stone's throw. 
In the old days of prosperity Old Sarum, now simply 
a conical mass of ruins, was peopled with the 
Belgae, who came from Gaul and ousted the origi- 
nal inhabitants. How this site ever came to be 
chosen as a desirable place of settlement seems to 
be rather a mystery, for even in those early days 
constant difficulties arose with regard to the in- 
sufficiency of water. They aptly called it " the 
dry city," which is supposed to be the meaning of 
the old name Searobyrig, which later underwent 
a further contraction — Scarborough. This arid 
spot, however, received the attention of the Ro- 
mans, who possibly were attracted by the natural 
[ 270] 



SALISBURY 

advantages of defence offered by the conical mound 
rising abruptly, as it does, from the valley. They 
carried on the old name and Latinised it, as they 
invariably seemed to have done, or rather made a 
compromise between the native and their own 
formation, and arrived at Sorbiordunum. The 
scarcity of water seems not to have deterred them 
in any way, as witness the many evidences of their 
fossa?, extensive ramparts, and fortress — signs 
which indicate that in their hands Old Sarum was 
held to be of considerable importance. Roman 
roads branched out of it, no doubt pointing to the 
four cardinal points, in accordance with regular 
custom, though their whereabouts may be difficult 
to define, seeing that several centuries have passed 
since the desertion of Old Sarum. 

With their passing away the Roman conquerors 
have left behind them many relics, possibly in 
their day considered worthless, but the unearthing 
of which has caused, for many a year, unalloyed joy 
and given a priceless treasure to the unwearied anti- 
quaries. Another great source of speculation to 
the archaeologists has been the temple of the 
Druids erected some time at Stonehenge. It lies 
beyond the city on the great Salisbury plain. 
This primitive form of architecture takes us back 
to many years before Christ, when the early 
[ 271 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Britons wore no clothes, save the skins of animals 
they slew in the chase, and when they could neither 
read, write, weave, nor do anything which would 
be considered nowadays as civilising. They 
were to all intents and purposes mere savages, kept 
in control by their priests and lawgivers, the 
Druids, whom they held in the greatest respect. 
The Britons, we are told, had the additional dis- 
comfort of dwelling in holes burrowed in the 
ground, or in miserably constructed huts. In view 
of this poor state of domestic architecture, how 
they ever managed to erect roofless temples, as at 
Stonehenge and at the island of Anglesea, and to 
overcome, what must have been to them a very 
great engineering feat, the setting up of the heavy 
blocks of stone in situ, seems marvellous and not 
easy of explanation. 

The great veneration in which the Britons held 
these temples of the Druids is much accentuated 
by an incident during the second occupation of 
Britain by the Romans. Suetonius Paulinus, one 
of their greatest generals, thought that by destroy- 
ing the temple at the island of Anglesea he would 
shake the faith of the Britons in their priests, and 
gain thereby a speedier conquest, much in the 
same way as when Clive in India knocked down 
Dupleix's column to undermine the French 
[ 272] 




SALISBURY 

HIGH STREET GATEWAY INTO THE CLOSE 



SALISBURY 

influence over the natives. In the latter case 
history has assured us of the ultimate fulfilment of 
hopes, and it was the same with Paulinus in 61, 
only on his return to the mainland he all but 
suffered a reverse from an unexpected rising of 
Britons under Boadicea. Nevertheless, the power 
of the Druids was irretrievably broken by the 
slaughter of their order and the felling of the 
groves at Anglesea, as Paulinus had foreseen. 
What the object and origin of these remains at 
Stonehenge were, still serve as an interesting 
matter for controversy. Competent authorities, 
like Geoffrey of Monmouth, Polydore Vergil, and 
in the eighteenth century Dr. Stukely, arrived 
more or less at the same conclusions. The first 
named said that Stonehenge was a sepulchral 
monument erected by Aurelius Ambrosius, who, 
according to a tradition, was thus led by the 
counsel of Merlin to commemorate the slaughter 
of 500 Britons by Hengist, the Saxon chief, about 
the year 450 a. d. Polydore Vergil confined him- 
self to the statement that it was the ancient temple 
of the Britons in which the Druids officiated, 
whilst Dr. Stukely asserted that the Britons here 
held their annual meetings at which laws were 
passed and justice administered. He was also for- 
tunate enough to discover the " cursus," in 1723, 
[275] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

in its vicinity. Perhaps it may be thought that 
Stonehenge is out of place in this account of 
Salisbury ; but in leaving it out it would be as 
much as to doubt the genuineness of any one's 
visit to this ancient cathedral city if he had not 
also seen the Druidical remains. 

In the neighbourhood of Old Sarum, Cynric 
won a victory over the Britons in the year 552. 
Though it steadily increased in importance, little 
worthy of notice occurred there till the close of 
the tenth century. At the small town of Wilton, 
which is almost three miles distant from Salisbury, 
the seat of the Diocese was originally established in 
the first years of the tenth century, and remained 
under the superintendence of eleven succeeding 
bishops. The last one of them was Hermannus. 
On his accession to the See of Sherborne — an 
ancient and interesting town of Dorsetshire — he 
annexed it to the Bishopric of Wilton. He there- 
upon founded, for these united sees, a cathedral 
church at Old Sarum. This effort of his was 
afterwards completed by Osmund, who accom- 
panied William the Conqueror to England, and 
was by him appointed bishop. A matter of sixty 
years prior to the Norman invasion Old Sarum 
had fallen a victim in 1003 to the fury of Sweyn, 
the King of Denmark. This was in accordance 
[276] 




SALISBURY 

THE MARKET CROSS 



SALISBURY 

with a vow of retaliation he had made when he 
learnt of the murder of his sister in the general 
massacre of the Danes, which had taken place the 
year before. This unhappy period, when many 
other counties besides Wiltshire suffered exten- 
sively, was during the reign of Ethelred the 
Unready. 

In the great plain of Salisbury the Conqueror, 
in 1070, passed a review of his army, just flushed 
with their victories in the neighbourhood. On the 
completion of his great survey, the " Doomsday 
Book," in 1086, he here at Salisberie, as he renamed 
the city, received the homage and oath of alle- 
giance from the English landlords. Till the year 
1 217 the See remained at Old Sarum, and even 
after the complete depopulation and the demoli- 
tion of every house of this ancient Roman site, it 
still was represented regularly at Parliament by 
two members till the year 1832. 

The reasons that led to the choice of the new 
site by Bishop Poore were the many advantages 
offered, especially the abundance of water by New 
Sarum, as it was called, as set against the exposure 
to the stormy winds which it was alleged went 
even so far as to drown the voice of the officiating 
priest, the congestion of houses within its narrow 
limits, the difficulty of procuring water, and finally 
[ 279] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

the despotism of the governor at Old Sarum. 
To rid himself of these inconveniences, Bishop 
Poore procured the papal authority to the re- 
moval of the Cathedral from Old Sarum to its 
present site in the year i 2 1 8, though not till the 
Reformation was the service discontinued in the 
old buildings. 

By then New Sarum had reaped the full benefit 
of the new conditions and surroundings. Though 
only two miles away, the old place, in propor- 
tion to the rising of the new township, sank to 
a few inhabitants, loth perhaps to part with old 
associations. 

The first building to appear in New Sarum, or 
Salisbury as we shall henceforth call it, seems to 
have been the wooden chapel of St. Mary, the 
erection of which was commenced in the Easter of 
the year 12 19. This was followed in the year 
1220 by the foundation of the new cathedral as 
planned by Bishop Poore. It was completed and 
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1258. 
The ground-plan is that of a Greek or double 
cross. With the slight exceptions of the upper 
part of the tower and the spire, which belong to a 
later date, the entire fabric represents the purest 
style of the Early English architecture. The 
cloisters, built by Bishop Walter de la Wyle, are 
[280] 



SALISBURY 

the largest and most magnificent of any in the 
kingdom. They are of the late Early English 
style, and took, with the addition of the Chapter 
House by the same prelate, from 1263 till 1274 to 
complete. 

Shortly after, the upper part of the tower was 
built in the Decorated style by Bishop Wyville, 
about 1330. Five years later it was capped by 
the highest spire in England. A marvellous 
achievement of lightness of design, of slenderness 
and beauty of proportion, it reaches from base to 
crown to the remarkable height of four hundred 
and four feet. Its great height has caused much 
anxiety from time to time, through the enormous 
pressure exerted upon the tower beneath it. 

This unique example of a spire was followed 
next by a chapel built by Bishop Beauchamp 
between 1450 and 1482. Another was carried 
out by Lord Hungerford in 1476. These two 
chapels, together with an elegant campanile, were 
entirely swept away in the restorations that took 
place under the direction of the architect James 
Wyatt. No doubt the Cathedral required extensive 
repairs, but it seems regrettable that any architect 
should have caused such demolition, instead of 
endeavouring to make good the ravages of time. 
As for the old west front, the coloured drawing 
[283] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

of Mr. Collins gives an excellent idea of its rich 
sculpturesque beauty. 

The Cathedral is isolated in the centre of an 
immense lawn, as it were. This again can be kept 
private by the Close, the area of which extends to 
half a mile square. Within its limits is a delight- 
ful mall shaded with trees, as there are also the 
Bishop's Palace, — a building of various dates, 
originated by Poore the founder, — the Deanery, and 
several other houses. We have said elsewhere 
that the Cathedral Close of Salisbury may be con- 
sidered the best example of its kind in England, 
though that at Wells is not far behind. The 
close was an enclosure, within the precincts of the 
cathedral, reserved for the dwellings originally 
intended for the exclusive domestic use of the 
Bishop and canons. This, however, is not strictly 
observed now. 

Two or three delightful gateways of ancient 
character and beautiful design give access to the 
Cathedral Close of Salisbury. Appended to the 
Cathedral is the beautiful Chapter House, lighted 
by lofty windows. It is octagonal in form, the 
roof of which is upheld by a central clustered 
column. A frieze in bas-relief, carried round the 
interior of the building, is ornamented with 
biblical subjects. At different times numerous 
[284] 



SALISBURY 

monuments, chiefly to the bishops of the See, have 
been erected, notably those to Bishops Joceline 
and Roger. 

A monument to one of the children of the choir 
has a sad interest. It was customary during the 
festival of St. Nicholas for one of the choristers to 
personate the character of a bishop. In this case 
the boy-bishop died while performing his role. 

The other interesting buildings of the town are 
the parish churches of St. Martin, St. Thomas, and 
St. Edmond; the banqueting hall of J. Halle, 
who was a wool merchant in 1470; Audley 
House, which also dates from the fifteenth century, 
and which in 1881 underwent a thorough repair. 
It serves now as the Church House of the Diocese. 
Elizabeth's Grammar School, St. Nicholas Hos- 
pital, founded in Richard II. 's reign, and Trinity 
House, established by Agnes Bottenham in 1379, 
are interesting links of medievalism. 

In this period must also be included the Poul- 
try Cross. It is a high cross, hexagonal in form. 
Its space is well distributed by six arches and a 
central pillar. Lord Montacute erected it just 
prior to the year 1335. 

The city's prosperity depended upon that of the 
church. In fact it was laid out according to 
Bishop Poore's plan. The citizens deserted Old 
[285] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Sarum to settle around the new ecclesiastical 
establishment at New Sarum. In 1227, by a 
charter of Henry III., the city enjoyed the same 
freedom and liberties as those of Winchester. 
The government of the city became vested in 
a mayor, recorder, deputy-recorder, twenty-four 
aldermen, and various other subordinate officers. 
The charter was confirmed by successive sovereigns 
till the accession of Anne. 

Salisbury, or New Sarum, was first represented 
at Parliament in 1295. ^ n ^85, by the Redistri- 
bution Act, its two representatives were reduced 
to one. The city itself has also witnessed the 
assembly of Parliament within its limits on various 
occasions. For being implicated in a conspiracy 
for deposing Richard III. to raise Henry Tudor, 
Earl of Richmond, to the throne, the Duke of 
Buckingham was in 1484 executed at Salisbury. 
For a reward of £ 1000 the Duke was betrayed 
by a dependent with whom he was in hiding in 
Shropshire. 

During the Civil War the city was held alter- 
nately by both parties. Since then the citizens 
have been left in comparative peace, intent on 
their several industries. At one time they were 
actively engaged in the preparation of woollen 
articles and in the manufacture of excellent cut- 
[286] 



SALISBURY 

lery. These are now declined, and such com- 
modities as boots and shoes take the first rank, 
whilst the shops depend mainly on the villages 
and agriculture around. The many places of anti- 
quity in this ancient city of the county of Wilt- 
shire have furnished many interesting palaeolithic 
relics for the reception of which the Blackmore 
Museum was established. The library was insti- 
tuted by Bishop Jewal, in 1560 to 1 571 . 

There have been many men of note from Salis- 
bury. The celebrated poet and essayist Addison, 
born near Amesbury in this county of Wiltshire, 
was educated at the Grammar School for choristers 
within the Close. Amongst the many eminent 
natives of the city are included William Hermann, 
author of several works in prose and verse ; George 
Coryate, who wrote " The Crudities " ; John 
Greenhill, a celebrated portrait painter ; William 
and Henry Lawes, both musicians and composers ; 
and James Harris, author of " Hermes." But the 
most conspicuous, or rather the best known, is 
Henry Fawcett, the politician and economist. 

Born in 1 833, he was the second son of a draper 
who, starting as an assistant, became afterwards his 
own master. He was enabled to afford his son 
Henry a good education at King's College and 
Peterhouse, Cambridge, from which he migrated 
*9 [ 289 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

to Trinity Hall. He became Seventh Wrangler 
and Fellow of his College. At the Cambridge 
Union, Fawcett gained considerable notice for his 
oratory. His ambition conceived the idea of attain- 
ing the highest honours in the kingdom through 
the profession of a barrister. For this purpose he 
entered Lincoln's Inn, but at the age of twenty- 
five a terrible accident happened to him. His 
eyesight was lost by two stray pellets from the 
gun of his father. 

Though his plans of advancement were altered, 
he determined within ten minutes of the catastrophe 
to continue his old pursuits of rowing, fishing, 
skating, riding, and even playing at cards which 
were marked. He became Liberal candidate for 
Brighton in 1865, and entered Parliament just 
when Palmerston's career came to a close. He 
opposed Gladstone's scheme for universal educa- 
tion in Ireland. He was an opponent to Disraeli's 
Government. 

On the return of the Liberal Party to power 
Fawcett was offered the post of Postmaster-General, 
though without a seat in the Cabinet. He intro- 
duced five important postal reforms ; namely, the 
parcels-post, postal-orders, sixpenny telegrams, 
the banking of small savings by means of stamps, 

and increased facilities for life insurance and annui- 

[ 290] 



SALISBURY 

ties. He also invented the little slot label, " next 
collection," on the pillar-boxes. 

The employment of women he greatly advocated. 
The defeat of the scheme for the deforestation of 
Epping Forest and the New Forest was entirely due 
to the exertions of this great politician. 

After a marvellous career of many years Fawcett 
died in 1884. From humble origin, and in spite 
of his blindness, if he did not realise his full am- 
bition, he reached to an exalted position in the 
State — an achievement never accomplished by 
any one under like disability. 



[291] 



(fleeter 



IN the great peninsula that runs out into the 
Atlantic is Devonshire, adjoining Cornwall, 
that dwindles to the Land's End, the point 
eagerly welcomed by visitors to England, the last 
of the Old Country to which a farewell is given. 
Through the northern portion of Devonshire 
meanders the river Exe, having established its 
source in Somersetshire. Quite ten miles before 
the river empties its waters at the mouth into the 
English Channel, on a broad ridge of land rising 
steeply from the left bank of the Exe, is the old 
city of Exeter. It is the chief of the county, and 
has had a varied existence. 

For the earliest period of Exeter, Geoffrey of 
Monmouth supplies much information, which has 
been greatly borne out by subsequent researches. 
He considered that Exeter was a city of the 
Britons some time before the Romans elected to 
establish their camp. The British named it in- 
differently Casr-Wisc (city of the water), or Casr 
Rydh (the red city), from the coloured nature of 
[ 292] 



EXETER 

the soil. When captured by the Romans they 
made it a stipendiary town. They called it Isca, 
to which was added Danmoniorum, to avoid 
confusion with the other Isca, a Latinised name 
given also to a town on the river (now Usk) 
in Monmouthshire. Many proofs of Roman oc- 
cupation have turned up in the shape of numerous 
coins and other relics. 

The year 1778 was especially notable for the 
excavations which brought to light many im- 
portant objects. Small statuettes of Mercury, 
Mars, Ceres, and Apollo, evidently the household 
gods of the Romans, together with urns, tiles, and 
tessellated pavements, were unearthed. Exeter at 
one time went by the name of Augusta, which 
was due to its having been occupied by the Second 
Augustan Legion, whose commander, Vespasian, 
included the city under his conquest Britannia 
Prima. The same legion, during the period 
47 to 52, had also a permanent station at Isca 
Silurum, as Casrleon-on-the-Usk in Monmouth 
was called. But as Vespasian continued the con- 
quest, 69 to 79, it seems fair to surmise that the 
Second Legion of Augusta was advanced or a 
portion sent from Isca Silurum to garrison Isca 
Danmoniorum, the present Exeter. 

For a considerable time it was the capital of the 
[ 293 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

West Saxon kingdom. It was probably during the 
Saxon occupation that the city changed its name 
to Excestre, which would easily be contracted into 
that of Exeter. In violation of a compact made 
with Alfred, who was a Saxon monarch, the Danes 
seized the city. They were, however, compelled 
to evacuate it, together with the surrender of all 
their prisoners within the West Saxon territory, by 
Alfred, in 877. This monarch was again called 
upon in 894 to relieve the Saxons from their 
Danish oppressors. The next century witnessed a 
marked improvement in the prosperity of the city. 
It had from quite an early period been distinguished 
for its numerous monastic institutions, so much so 
that it was said to have been called " Monk Town " 
by Britons in Cornwall and the heathen Saxons. 
They were pleased to deride it thus, but when 
Athelstan came he clearly made them understand 
that it was no happy state to be without the pale 
of the Church. He so thoroughly instilled into 
them the necessity of imbibing the principles of 
religion that those who were unwilling to become 
converts were expelled. 

With the exception of a few, we may take it 

that many embraced Christianity as a matter of 

compulsion or for expediency's sake, for in those 

days of hard knocks it was hardly likely that any 

[ 294] 




EXETER 

FROM THE PALACE GARDENS 



EXETER 

mass of ignorant peasants would comprehend any- 
thing but the most stringent measures. The 
transition from heathen darkness to the light of 
Christianity must have meant a severe initiation to 
two-thirds of the population of Exeter at the time 
of Athelstan's accession. He came westward about 
the year 926 and found the Britons and Saxons 
living amicably and enjoying equal rights. The 
city had by them already been called Exenceaster, 
that is, the "cester" or fortified town on the 
" Exe." Athelstan augmented the number of 
religious institutions by the foundation of a 
Benedictine monastery. The building was dedi- 
cated to St. Peter, the establishment of which there 
seems no reason to doubt gave birth eventually to 
the present cathedral. Besides this he materially 
increased the importance of the town by appoint- 
ing two mints and erecting regular fortifications 
with towers and a wall of hewn stone. Athelstan's 
monastery was destroyed by the Danes. King 
Edgar in 968 restored it, and appointed Sydemann 
to the Abbacy, as it then became. Ultimately this 
abbot was raised to the Bishopric of Crediton, 
which was the seat of the Devonshire Diocese 
about 910. In 1 003 Exeter, after a gallant defence 
of some three months' duration, was betrayed by 
its governor into the hands of Sweyn. As has 
[ 297 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

been said elsewhere, this king came from Denmark 
especially to punish Ethelred the Unready for 
having allowed the massacre of Danes, in which 
the sister of Sweyn had perished. The monastery 
of St. Peter was not spared, nor was the city, 
which did not recover from the terrible visitation 
till the accession of Canute. 

From this time Exeter increased to such im- 
portance and wealth that in the reign of Edward 
the Confessor it was deemed advisable and for 
better security to make it the head of the Diocese. 

For this purpose the Sees of Crediton and St. 
Germans (Cornwall) were united under one bishop. 
To uphold worthily the new dignity, the abbey 
church of St. Peter was erected into a cathedral 
by the Confessor, who appointed his chaplain 
Leofric as first bishop of the united see. Leofric 
had the monks removed to Westminster Abbey, 
and installed in their stead were twenty-four secular 
canons. The date of Leofric's installation is about 
1 040, which is, of course, that of the foundation 
of the Cathedral. This arrangement was altered 
on the re-erection of the Cornish See in 1876. 

In William the Conqueror's time Githa, the 

mother of Harold, gave the Normans considerable 

trouble. It was only on the appearance of that 

monarch before the city's walls that the citizens 

[298] 






EXETER 

surrendered. They were made to pay a heavy 
fine, whilst Githa escaped with her treasures to 
take refuge in Flanders. William in the end 
relented and renewed all their former privileges. 
Nevertheless he took the precaution to erect a 
fortress in Exeter, the charge of which was 
entrusted to Baldwin de Brioniis, who, by virtue 
of his office, became Earl of Devon and sheriff 
of the county. The chief remains of the Castle 
is a gateway tower. 

This same castle was held by the partisans of 
the Empress Matilda for three months, when it 
was compelled in 1 1 36 through scarcity of water 
to surrender to Stephen. Contrary to expectation, 
they were treated very well. Henry II., for their 
loyalty, was pleased to grant additional privileges. 

In 1 200 the city for the first time was governed 
by a mayor and corporation. Subsequently their 
importance was increased by the charters of 
Edward III., Edward IV., and Henry VIII., 
whilst Henry VIII. constituted Exeter a county 
of itself. These privileges were extended by 
Charles I.; and in 1684 a new charter of incor- 
poration was granted by Charles II., but not put 
into effect. In 1770 George III. renewed and 
confirmed the charter, since when the government 
has been invested in a mayor assisted by sub- 
[ 299] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

ordinate officers. In the meantime a curious 
incident occurred in 1824, which greatly interfered 
with the prosperity of the city, inasmuch as the 
navigation of the river Exe was obstructed by a 
dam erected by Hugh Courtenay, at that time 
Earl of Devon. 

Exeter, through its happy situation on the river 
Exe, had for many years reaped full benefit. At 
the time of the Conquest it had gained considerable 
importance through the river being navigable for 
ships right up to its quays. Among many petty 
matters that annoyed the Earl the following is 
alleged to have been the chief. There were three 
pots of fish in the market-place. The Earl 
wanted them all. The Bishop likewise. Neither 
would give way, and the Mayor was called in to 
adjudicate. He allotted one to the Earl, the 
second to the Bishop, and the third to the town. 
This distribution did not suit the Earl. Out of 
pique he caused a dam to be constructed across the 
Exe at Topsham. There he built a quay, and had 
the satisfaction of greatly curtailing the trade of 
Exeter. 

In 1286 Edward I. assembled a parliament at 

Exeter, whilst in 1 37 1 the Black Prince brought 

here his royal prisoner of France and stayed 

several days. The Duchess of Clarence, accom- 

[3°°] 




EXETER 

mol's coffee tavern 



EXETER 

panied by many royal adherents, took refuge 
within the city walls in 1469. It was besieged 
by Sir William Courtenay, who eventually raised 
it on the mediation of the clergy. 

The next event of importance not only affected 
Exeter, but threw into agitation the whole of the 
British Empire. Of two impostors that laid claim 
to the Crown which Henry VII. was wearing, the 
second was a youth called Perkin Warbeck. He 
bore such a striking resemblance to the Planta- 
genets that he had been secretly instructed to 
impersonate Richard Duke of York, the younger 
brother of Edward V., who it was pretended had 
escaped from the Tower and from the fate that 
overtook his brother. So ingratiating was his 
manner that he successfully enlisted the aid of the 
Duchess of Burgundy, who was holding her court 
at Brussels. His first attempt to land in England 
was in Kent ; his second in Ireland. Both ven- 
tures being unsuccessful, he tried Scotland. There 
he convinced King James IV. that he was a true 
Plantagenet, and through him he raised an army 
and invaded England. However, the two kings 
having come to an understanding, Warbeck retired 
to Ireland. He there received an invitation from 
the Cornishmen, acting on which he landed at 
Whitsand Bay in that county. 
[303] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

At Bodmin he was joined by a considerable 
force of men, with whom he marched and laid 
siege to Exeter in the year 1497. At t ^ ie 
approach of the royal forces his followers were 
dispersed, whilst he fled to Beaulieu in Hampshire. 
Two years afterwards he ended his career at 
Tyburn. 

In 1536 Exeter was erected a county of itself. 
The year 1549 saw the investment of the city by a 
numerous body of popish adherents, from whom it 
was relieved by John Lord Russell in August. On 
the very day of its investment, the second of July, 
the strange spectacle of Welch being hanged from 
the tower of his own church, in which he had 
been accustomed to officiate as vicar, took place. 
He suffered on the charge of being a Cornish 
rebel. During the parliamentary war it was 
taken and retaken, finally to be surrendered to the 
Roundheads in 1646. Throughout it all the 
citizens were warm supporters of the Stuarts, as 
they had always been to the Crown. So much so 
was their loyalty that in a previous reign, that of 
Elizabeth, she presented to the Corporation, with, 
many other marks of her royal favour, the motto 
" Semper Fidelis." During the stay of the 
parliamentary troops under General Fairfax, the 
Cathedral was ruthlessly defaced and divided into 
[ 304] 



EXETER 

places of worship for Presbyterians and Independ- 
ents. The palace adjoining was also turned into 
barracks, and the Chapter House converted into 
stables. During these troubles Queen Henrietta 
Maria, the consort of Charles I., had returned to 
Exeter from Oxford, believing herself to be in 
danger from the hatred with which she feared 
she was regarded by the people. Here she 
gave birth to her youngest child, the Princess 
Henrietta. Leaving the infant at Exeter she 
escaped to France. 

In the Guildhall, which is a picturesque Eliza- 
bethan building, are two full-length portraits : one 
depicts the features of General Monk, Duke of 
Albemarle, painted by Sir Peter Lely ; the other 
was given by Charles II. to the Corporation as 
some slight acknowledgment of the city's loyalty. 
It represents the portrait of his sister, Princess 
Henrietta, then Duchess of Orleans. James II. 
was the next sovereign to bestow favour, which 
he did by establishing a mint in 1688. His in- 
fluence was shortlived, for on the arrival of the 
Prince of Orange in the August of the same year 
the inhabitants readily submitted. This prince is 
credited with establishing a mint at Exeter, or it 
may be he simply completed or confirmed that of 
his predecessor. The following year saw him on 
[ 305 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

the throne of the kingdom as William III., which 
ratified the declaration he had caused to be read 
by Burnet in the Cathedral of Exeter. Though 
visited by subsequent reigning princes, their pres- 
ence may be said to have conferred more honour 
than to have promoted any material changes to the 
prosperity of Exeter. 

The mainstay of the city is the glorious Cathedral, 
and the quaintness of some of its houses and streets 
is unique. They afford a great attraction to visi- 
tors, who are willing to go a long railway journey 
west simply to see and compare the merits and 
demerits of the Cathedral with the many others 
dotted throughout Great Britain. 

The actual date of the Cathedral is in 1049. Its 
origin, as we have seen, occasioned no turning of 
the soil to receive foundations, but merely the 
conventual church of the monks, removed by 
Edward the Confessor to his new abbey at 
Westminster, adapted to meet the requirements of 
Bishop Leofric and his secular canons appointed 
to the united Sees of Devon and Cornwall. The 
head of the Diocese was at Exeter. What was 
the size and character of the converted monastic 
church at that time no two authorities seem able 
to agree. According to an old record at Oxford 
its lease soon ran out, for in the year 1112a new 
[306] 



EXETER 

church was commenced by Bishop Warlewast, 
continued by his successors, and finally completed 
by Bishop Marshall, who died in 1206. They 
are supposed to have carried out the plan of 
Warlewast ; but as the whole of the fabric, with 
the exception of the towers, was entirely rebuilt 
in 1280, the original design is chiefly conjectural. 
The body of the church probably corresponded in 
character with the two massive transeptal towers. 
These are quite a feature in that, with the exception 
of those at the collegiate church of Ottery in 
Devonshire, they exist nowhere else in England. 
This arrangement of the towers did away with 
the necessity of either a central tower or lantern. 
It enabled the architect to extend a long unbroken 
roof throughout the nave and choir. The aisles, 
with the intervention of richly clustered pillars 
and pointed arches springing from their caps, range 
along on either side of the nave. With the sets 
of ribs starting each from a clustered centre, and 
spreading out as they soar towards the highest 
limit of the roof, as grand an exposition of beauty 
and noble gradations of perspective lines, as con- 
ceived by architects of the Decorative period, have 
been realised. The period of this rebuilding was 
commenced in 1280 with the Early English style 
of architecture by Bishop Quivil, and was com- 
[307 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

pleted in 1369 in the best years of the Decorated 
style, just a few years before the Perpendicular 
came into vogue. It is said that this cathedral 
served as a model for the church at Ottery. 
Though this cathedral in miniature resembles 
the great edifice in Exeter in certain points, 
notably the transeptal towers, yet, if the principal 
part of it dates from 1260, it can hardly, with the 
one exception, have been a copy of the chief 
church of the Diocese. The Early English 
work of Ottery church takes, by comparison of 
dates, priority over that at Exeter by some twenty 
years. 

The west front, which is one mass of elegant 
tracery and canopied niches adorned with statuary, 
is the Decorated period merged into that of the 
Perpendicular, covering the years from about 1 369 
to 1394, under the episcopacy of Brantingham. 
The windows are excellent examples of elegant 
tracing. Under successive bishops after Quivil, 
the chief alteration was the lengthening of the 
nave and the roof vaulted by Grandison. The 
year 1420 really saw the completion of the build- 
ing under Bishop Lacey. Time and weather having 
caused certain decay, Sir G. G. Scott was directed 
in 1870 to restore it. The undertaking took 
seven years. A new stall, a reredos, the choir 
[308] 




EXETER 

INTERIOR OF THE NAVE 



EXETER 

repaved, rich marbles and porphyries used, and 
stained glass put up mainly by Clayton and Bell, 
were the chief items of restoration. When erect- 
ing the reredos Scott could never have foreseen the 
little storm it gave rise to, just when he was half- 
way through with the general renovation. Pre- 
bendary Philpotts, the Chancellor, and several 
others had their conscientious objections, which 
they laid before the Bishop's visitation court in 
1873. I* was ruled that the Bishop had the juris- 
diction in the matter. He ordered the removal 
of the reredos in April 1874. In August of the 
same year Dean Boyd appealed to the Court of 
Arches, and had the previous decision reversed by 
Sir R. Phillimore. However, Prebendary Philpotts 
saw fit to appeal to the Judicial Committee of 
the Privy Council. They decided that the reredos 
should remain. Thus in 1875 was ended the con- 
troversy ; and there rests Sir G. G. Scott's design, 
open to the criticism of all who are capable of 
framing an impartial one. 

In this same year of 1875 much excitement 
arose over the church-tax. It was called in- 
differently " dominicals " and " sacrament money," 
which were said to be of the nature of tithes. 
However, the disputes were ended by the dis- 
traints for payment. 

[311] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

In the Chapter House is preserved an important 
manuscript, including the famous book of Saxon 
poetry presented by Leofric on his accession to the 
See of Exeter. It is called the " Exeter Book," 
and is the life of St. Guthlac, by Cynewulf, who 
was an early English writer. Born somewhere 
between 720 and 730 at Northumbria, Cynewulf 
was a wandering bard by profession. Late in 
life he suffered a religious crisis, and devoted his 
remaining years to religious poetry. An early 
work of his is a series of ninety-four Riddles. 

It is an example of the effects of Latin influence, 
which in the end revolutionised the style of Old 
English literature as a whole. Cynewulf appears 
to have been a prolific writer. Besides the Riddles, 
the " Crist " (dealing with the three advents of 
Christ), the lives of St. Juliana and St. Elene, and 
the " Fates of the Apostles " are ascribed to him, 
as well as " The Descent into Hell," " Felix," 
and the lives of St. Andreas and St. Guthlac. A 
valuable treasure is that in the possession of 
Exeter. Many such precious relics are to be 
found distributed among the various ecclesiastical 
buildings in England, known only to antiquarians 
and people with interest akin to theirs. The 
quaint, picturesque old coffee tavern, with its bow 
windows of square-leaded panes, ends curiously at 



EXETER 

the top with a moulded outline so reminiscent of 
many houses in Belgium. 

The tombs are mostly to the memory of bishops 
who each in his own time maintained the dignity 
of the See. Of those natives who came to the front 
through sheer ability may be enumerated the fol- 
lowing : Josephus Iscanus, or Joseph of Exeter, a 
distinguished Latin poet of the twelfth century ; 
his contemporary, Baldwin, Archbishop of Canter- 
bury ; John Hooker, author of " A History of 
Exeter in the Sixteenth Century"; Sir Thomas Bod- 
ley, who founded the magnificent Bodleian Library 
at Oxford ; Matthew Lock, a seventeenth-century 
musical composer of note ; and many others. 

Amongst many notable institutions is the 
Grammar School, which dates from the reign of 
Henry VIII. 

The manufactures are few. The woollen trade, 
at one time only surpassed by Leeds, has now 
entirely departed from Exeter. If it were not for 
its glorious minster and the river Exe, up which 
vessels of three hundred tons' burden can come 
up right to the city's quay, Exeter would have 
long ago sunk to mere insignificance. 

The river, which decided the early Britons to 
settle on its banks, the Romans to station the 
Second Legion of Augusta, the monks to establish 
[3 J 3] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

their humble monastery, eventually to be absorbed 
into a see, has from the early times afforded facili- 
ties for exports and imports. The ship canal from 
Exeter to Topsham, which is in the estuary of the 
Exe, begun in 1564, enlarged in 1675 and again 
in 1827, materially assisted and rescued commerce 
from a serious decline. Those vessels that are too 
deep in the water remain at Topsham, whilst those 
of still greater tonnage discharge their holds at 
Exmouth, a port at the mouth of the river. 



[3i4] 



Jiortotcf) 

Norwic. 
("Doomsday Book.") 

V/ T' HEN this city first came into being it is 
\\Ji puzzling to say. The difficulty is as to 
where the site was originally fixed. 
Three miles to the south of Norwich is the village 
of Caistor (St. Edmunds). Owing to its position 
on the river Wentsum, or Wensum, it was called 
Cser Gwent by the Britons, and for the like reason 
it was named by the Romans Venta Icenorum. 
It formed their principal station, as it before had 
served as the residence of the kings of the Iceni. 
From the ruins of Venta Icenorum gradually arose 
Norwich. As to when it was firmly established 
on its present eminence under the name of 
Nordewic, or North Town, there seems to be no 
reliable evidence. It first appears by that name 
in the Saxon Chronicle of the year 1 004. It may 
possibly mean the town north of the old settle- 
ment. For one thing it is certain, in proportion 
as Nordewic rose Caistor sank from an important 
[3i5] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

town to a mere village in ruins. According to an 
authority, an earlier date is arrived at than the entry 
in the Saxon Chronicle. He conjectures that the 
keep, the only remnant of the castle built on the 
summit of the steep mound by William Rufus, 
was the Saxon " burn," erected in 767. This, if 
correct, would clearly indicate that Norwich had 
already attained considerable importance. Ac- 
cording to Spelman, it was the residence of the 
kings of East Anglia. They established a mint, 
where it is supposed coins of Alfred and several 
succeeding monarchs were struck. From its geo- 
graphical position Norwich was frequently exposed 
to the attacks of the Norsemen, who could easily 
land on the Norfolk coast and cover the few 
intervening miles in a short time. The city was 
alternately in the possession of the Saxons and the 
Danes. Against the latter Alfred the Great re- 
paired and fortified the citadel, to whom, however, 
he eventually handed it over after a treaty of 
peace. The Saxons afterwards regained it and 
held it till 1004, when it had to surrender to 
the Danes under their leader Sweyn. The terrible 
weak reign of Ethelred II. had earned him the 
epithet of Unready. His indolence caused his 
territories to be terrorised, the towns to be racked, 
and their inhabitants to be massacred by the Danes 
[316] 



NORWICH 

under Sweyn, who, under pretext of avenging the 
murder of his sister, took the opportunity of 
ravaging and laying waste the land. On the 
accession of Canute, however, though a Dane, 
the cities began to prosper again. Thus it came 
about that Norwich, which had remained in a 
state of desolation till 1018, came again into 
Danish possession, but under Canute. With this 
fresh beginning it rapidly rose to great importance. 
By the time of the Norman Conquest, Norwich 
was classed as second only to York in extent and 
prosperity, being described in the " Doomsday 
Book" as having 1320 burgesses with their fam- 
ilies, 25 parish churches, and covering an area of 
not far short of 1000 acres. It was bestowed by 
the Conqueror on Ralph de Guaer, or Guader, 
in 1075, who rewarded his master's kindness by 
joining a conspiracy formed by the Earls of Here- 
ford and Northumberland against the Crown. 
After having unsuccessfully defended the Castle, 
he retired into Brittany, leaving his wife to sustain 
the siege. The city was very much damaged, 
and the number of burgesses woefully reduced 
in numbers, some 560 only being left on the 
capitulation to the Conqueror. In view of the 
gallant defence by Guader's wife and garrison 
of Britons, William granted them all the honours 
[317] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

of war and permission to leave the kingdom in 
perfect security. This siege was a great check 
to the advancement of the city. At the same 
time the value of the property must have been 
considerably lessened. This depreciation after the 
drawing up of the "Doomsday Book" in 1086 
could hardly have suited the views of the Con- 
queror. To obviate the difficulty it would be 
necessary to introduce some new element, some 
attraction that would bring added interest and 
fresh residents willing to ply their industries in 
the town. The commencement of a new period 
of prosperity was soon realised after the establish- 
ment of a see at Norwich, though not until the 
time of William Rufus. One of his followers 
from Normandy was Herbert de Lozinga, or 
Lorraine, who having been made Bishop of East 
Anglia, decided to remove the See from Thetford 
to Norwich. In addition to the Cathedral, he 
established an episcopal palace and a monastery 
to maintain sixty monks, all in the year 1094. 
It had the desired effect ; the city rapidly im- 
proved, the number of inhabitants greatly increased, 
and trade extended. In the reign of Stephen it was 
rebuilt. In 11 22 Henry I. granted Norwich the 
same franchise as that enjoyed in London, incorpo- 
rated in a charter. The government of the city 
[318] 




c § 



NORWICH 

was at the same time separated from that of the 
Castle, and entrusted to the chief magistrate, or 
Propositus (provost), as he was styled. Another 
factor in the city's welfare was the colony of 
Flemish weavers who settled at Worstead, about 
thirteen miles from Norwich. They introduced 
the manufacture of woollen stuffs. A second 
colony, however, came in Edward III.'s time and 
settled right in Norwich, when it was made a 
staple town for the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. 
The citizens, in the reign of John, suffered con- 
siderable loss from the depredations of the Dauphin, 
who had been invited from France to assist the 
barons. In 1272 a riot between the monks and 
the citizens caused the burning of the priory. The 
terrible plague, called the black death, that occurred 
between 1348 and 1349, destroyed two-thirds of 
the population. The city no sooner was beginning 
to recover from this terrible visitation than one 
of its residents, John Listher, a dyer by profession, 
incited an insurrection called the Norfolk Levellers. 
They managed in 1 38 1 to do much damage before 
the rebellion was quelled by the Bishop of Norwich, 
who defeated Listher and had him executed. From 
Henry IV. the citizens received permission to be 
governed by a mayor and sheriffs in 1403, and 
Norwich was made a county of itself. But in 
[ 321 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

spite of it all the city severely suffered: what with 
the continued dissension between the monks and 
the citizens, when the monastic buildings were 
burnt down, and the tumults by tradesmen all too 
ready to lay aside their tools and follow some hare- 
brained leader with a grievance, and later on, after 
the peaceful period of Elizabeth, the Civil War. 
The most notable insurrection was that conducted 
under the reign of Edward VI. by a tanner, Robert 
Kett, and his brother William. Under the pretence 
of resisting the "enclosure of waste lands," they 
contrived to excite a most formidable rising. They 
seized upon the palace of the Earl of Surrey, and, 
converting it into a prison, confined many of the 
aristocracy. They then encamped upon Mouse- 
hold Heath, where eventually they were routed by 
the army under the Earl of Warwick in 1549. 
The two brothers were taken prisoners, Robert 
being hanged on Norwich Castle, and William 
suffering a like penalty on the steeple of Wymond- 
ham church, the parish from which they had both 
come. During the reign of Elizabeth a large body 
of Dutch and Walloons settled in Norwich, and 
introduced among many other articles the manu- 
facture of bombazine, for which the city soon 
became noted. These refugees were Protestants, 
who had sought an asylum in England to escape 
[ 3 22 1 



NORWICH 

the persecution of the Duke of Alva, and though 
many Roman Catholics and even some of the 
Protestants were unwilling martyrs to the stake 
at Norwich during this same reign of Elizabeth, 
the city no doubt appeared to these exiles to offer a 
better chance of life than that in the Netherlands. 
By the year 1582 their numbers had increased to 
five thousand. The Queen, who had encouraged 
and protected these emigrants, thus laid the foun- 
dation of the commercial and manufacturing pros- 
perity of the town, as she had done elsewhere, and 
on her visit to Norwich was sumptuously feted. 
But the Civil War in Charles I.'s reign did much 
to upset trade in Norwich. It was held by the 
Parliamentarians, who seem to have got out of 
control. The Cathedral was barbarously defaced, 
all its plate and ornaments looted, and the Bishop's 
Palace greatly damaged. The Castle, on the other 
hand, was strongly fortified for Cromwell. After 
the Restoration, Norwich was one of the first 
to swear allegiance to Charles II., who with 
his consort paid it a visit. He went away richer 
than he came, the city having assigned its fee- 
farm to him, with the presentation of £ 1 000 
sterling besides. Since then the citizens have 
been content to lead a quiet life, and carry on such 
manufactures as ironworks, mustard, starch, and 
[3 2 3l 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

brewing of ale, though the textile manufacture, 
once important, has now declined. Printing, 
which was introduced here in 1570, but discon- 
tinued for several years, was revived in 1 70 1 , when 
newspapers began to be printed and circulated. 
Though, as we have seen, the monks and citizens 
often did not agree, yet we must not forget that 
it was mainly owing to the establishment of the 
See that prosperity came to Norwich. The pres- 
ence of the Cathedral immediately rescued the 
city iTom oblivion, and, more, it raised it above 
the commonplace. All credit must be awarded 
to Herbert de Lozinga. For some reason or other 
he was dissatisfied with Thetford, which was then 
the seat of the Diocese, and determined to transfer it 
elsewhere. For this purpose in 1094 he purchased 
a large plot of ground near the Castle and soon 
commenced the building of a magnificent cathedral. 
It was purely Norman. Though it has undergone 
many alterations, additions, and restorations, 
Lozinga's plan is still in great evidence, much 
more so than many other examples of Norman 
work in England. With the establishment of a 
Benedictine monastery, Lozinga brought his work 
to a close, and dedicated it to Holy Trinity in 1 101. 
As presented to us now, it is a spacious cruciform 
structure, with a highly finished and ornamental 
[324] 






^■■^■HHHHHHHBraBHI 




NORWICH 



THE ^THELBERT GATE 



NORWICH 

Norman tower rising from the centre. This 
again is surmounted by an elegant octagonal spire 
of the Later Decorated style, and crocketed at the 
angles. The spire is 315 feet, and its height is 
exceeded in England only by that at Salisbury. 
The west front is of Norman character, with a 
central entrance, over which was placed a large 
window in the Later English style. The nave, 
remarkable for its elaborate 328 bosses, was stone- 
vaulted in the fifteenth century. The vaulting of 
the transepts and the chantry of Bishop Nix dates 
from the sixteenth century. The choir is richly 
ornamented with excellent design in tracery work 
of the Later English style, whilst the east end has 
several circular chapels. The Lady Chapel, which 
was early English, was unfortunately demolished 
about 1580. The cloisters are very fine. They 
are 12 feet wide, and cover an area of 175 square 
feet, with 45 windows inserted. They were com- 
menced in 1297 and completed in 1430. Though 
mainly composed of the Decorated period, they 
range in character from the early years of that 
style down to the Later English style. The 
Cathedral, in common with the city, suffered 
severely. At one time it was very much destroyed 
by fire. The dome was repaired soon after by 
John of Oxford, who was the fourth bishop. 
[327 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Besides this it received repeated assaults arising 
from the numerous disagreements between the 
monks and the citizens. It is always marvellous 
to think how such great works of art have come 
down to the present day exhibiting, in spite of fires, 
Commonwealth defacements, repairs and alterations, 
so much evidence of the skill of those great masters 
of mediaeval architecture. The Chapter House, 
usually a great feature of the cathedral, is missing 
at Norwich, though it once existed. There are two 
monumental effigies, one to Bishop Goldwell about 
1499, and the other to Bishop Bathurst in 1837, 
the work of Chantrey. Of the mural monuments 
there is one to Sir William Boleyn. He was the 
great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth. His re- 
mains were interred on the south side of the 
Presbytery, in the midst of which once stood the 
tomb of Herbert de Lozinga, the founder. " Best 
viewed from the east," wrote George Borrow in 
" The Lavengro" in a description of Norwich 
Cathedral. Perhaps the advice of this extraordi- 
nary man is the best one to follow. Born at East 
Dereham, Norfolk, in 1803, of Cornish descent, 
educated at Norwich Grammar School, which he 
supplemented with the study of some twenty lan- 
guages, he passed an adventurous and varied career 
from running away from Norwich to be a footpad 
[328] 



NORWICH 

to travelling partly with gypsies over Europe and 
Asia, the latter part being supposed to account for 
his disappearance — the veiled period he called it, 
lasting from 1826 to 1833. In subsequent years 
he found time between his restless wanderings to 
write "The Gypsies in Spain" (1841), "The 
Bible in Spain" (1843), tne mucn delayed auto- 
biography, appearing in 1 85 1, and " The Romany 
Rye " in 1857. After another long disappearance, 
when it was believed he was dead, he came to life 
again by publishing his " Romano Lavo-Lil " 
(Gypsy Word-Book) in 1874. From this year till 
his death in 1881 the famous philologist, traveller, 
and author spent most of his time in lodgings in 
Norwich, where he became a familiar figure. The 
lives of many men can lay a better claim to be 
recognised by Norwich than Borrow, through 
virtue of their birthright. In the fourteenth cen- 
tury William Bateman, one time Bishop of Nor- 
wich, founded the great college of Trinity Hall at 
Cambridge. His great example was followed by 
another native of Norwich, Dr. Kaye or Caius, 
who established the beautiful college of Gonville 
and Caius at the same university. Matthew 
Parker, second Protestant Archishop of Canter- 
bury, as chaplain attended Queen Anne Boleyn to 
the scaffold ; Robert Green became a popular writer 
[ 3 2 9] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

in the reign of Elizabeth. In 1734 Edward King 
was born here. He gained much recognition as 
author of a work on ancient architecture entitled 
" Munimenta Antiqua," and for his many anti- 
quarian researches was admitted Fellow of the 
Society of Antiquaries. The Reverend William 
Beloe acquired a reputation by his translation of 
Herodotus, though possibly only known to classical 
scholars. The Linnsean Society owes its inception 
to Sir James Edward Smith, M. D., whose first 
president he became. This distinguished native 
of Norwich was also the author of the "Flora 
Britannica." 

The beautiful gate of Erpingham, which was 
erected in 1420 and faces the west end of the 
Cathedral, recalls the munificence of Sir Thomas 
Erpingham, by whom it was built. He greatly 
distinguished himself at the battle of Agincourt, 
and was eventually interred in the Cathedral of 
Norwich, the town of his residence, though not of 
his birth. Another resident was Sir John Fastof, 
who lived fighting as a renowned warrior for 
Henry IV., V., and VI. in their wars in France. 

From the old Grammar School came, besides 

Borrow, Sir Edward Coke, who was born in 

Norfolk. When only forty years of age he became 

Attorney-General, and lived in the reign of 

[330] 




NORWICH 

FROM THE NORTHEAST 



NORWICH 

Elizabeth, always at strife with his dangerous and 
brilliant legal rival, Francis Bacon. Coke, by his 
opposition to the royal prerogative of raising 
money on the validity of the Court of High 
Commission, and in taking a considerable share 
in the drawing up of the Petition of Right, and 
in the debates upon the conduct of Buckingham, 
earned the dislike of James I. Though treading 
on dangerous ground, Coke nevertheless received 
active employment, and appears to have got on 
quite well in spite of royal displeasure. 

Two other scholars were Brooke and Lord 
Nelson. Brooke entered the East India Com- 
pany's army in 1819 at the age of sixteen. In his 
remarkable career he assisted the Sultan of Brunti 
to reduce the marauding Dyak tribes of Sarawak, 
and with such success that the Sultan created him 
rajah of the province of Sarawak in 1841. 

A famous school of landscape painting was that 
at Norwich. It flourished in the first part of the 
nineteenth century, the principal artists of which 
were Crome, — who by the way was a native of 
Norwich, — Cotman, Vincent, and Stark. 

Of recent years the Cathedral has undergone 
extensive restoration, namely, in 1892 and 1900. 

Before closing this account we think it would 
be of interest to outline the causes that embittered 
[ 333 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

the existence of the Jews and led to their persecu- 
tion through the disappearance of a Christian boy 
in 1 144 from Norwich. 

We have had occasion, under Lincoln, to 
mention the attitude adopted by the citizens 
towards the Jews. If anything, the feeling was 
more intense at Norwich. It is uncertain when 
they first resided in England, though it is supposed 
they visited before the Conquest for purposes of 
the slave trade, of which they held a monopoly. 
The position of the Jews in a Christian State 
entirely depended upon the attitude of the Church, 
whose stringent measures effectually precluded any 
Semitic from the exercise of any public office 
unless the reception was confirmed by oaths 
of a Christian character. As this clause was 
foreign to the tenets of the Hebrew religion, 
and as the Church regarded the means of loans 
lent out on interest as prohibited by the Gos- 
pel, and as a disreputable calling and unworthy 
of a Christian, usury became the only means of 
subsistence to the Jew in England. They were 
not affected by the views of the Church, and soon 
made themselves felt. As, however, capital was 
needed for the building of monasteries, abbeys, 
and cathedrals by the Church, and the kings of 
England, especially John and Henry III., found 
[334] 



NORWICH 

it convenient to extort tallage, the Jews were 
tolerated. The rate of interest demanded for 
what was in the first place a trifling loan in a few 
years increased to a formidable debt. The means 
adopted by the Christian Church and kings of the 
middle ages to free themselves from this bondage 
in no way reflect any honour. The custom appears 
to have been for the king to seize the whole of 
the estate, both treasure and debts, of the Jew on 
his demise, though there may have been sons to 
inherit. Another was to burn the proofs of in- 
debtedness after having slain the creditors, as the 
attack against the Jews organised by a set of nobles, 
who were deep in their debt, is recorded to have 
taken place at York. For the Jew being a usurer, 
the estate fell into the hands of the King, who 
might be influenced to cancel the debt for a much 
smaller amount. We cannot then wonder that the 
lower classes followed in the steps of their superiors. 
But above all, in the twelfth century the Church 
encouraged the circulation of a suspicion that the 
Jews sacrificed Christian children in their Passover. 
However, the suspicion or " blood accusation," as 
it was called, first took root with a case in which 
a boy of the name of William disappeared at 
Norwich. This terrible accusation against the 
Jews has since been proved to have been founded 
[335] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

on the shallowest pretexts, but at the time the 
myth was nevertheless encouraged by the clergy, 
since it attracted vast numbers of pilgrims to any 
cathedral or church which might contain the 
martyred remains of these boy-saints. The example 
of Norwich was followed in the same century by 
one at Gloucester and Edmondsbury, whilst in the 
following century the supposed martyrdom of 
Hugh of Lincoln served only to increase and 
confirm the popular belief. Hence the intense 
ill-feeling between the Christian and the Jew. 



[336] 



Hontion 

St. Paul's. 
Si quaeris monumentum, circumspice. 

*V^V O epitaph more noble and impressive can 
■ have possibly been conceived than the 
gM >\j simple Latin inscription placed upon the 
modest tomb of Christopher Wren : " If ye seek 
my monument, look around." When building this 
magnificent structure, the great architect was pre- 
paring a glorious sepulchre to receive his remains. 
Some thirty-five years it took Wren to realise this 
great achievement — an achievement the more as- 
tounding when we learn that he was actively 
engaged throughout the whole time in the plan- 
ning and personal superintendence of some thirty 
churches in London, no two of which are alike. 
Daily he walked around jotting down a sketch of 
the next detail to be worked upon, deciding, as the 
work progressed, and maturing his plans, throwing 
out one day a course, another day realising an idea 
that had just occurred to him. Thus the fabric 
rose higher day by day, month by month, year by 
[ 337 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

year. He adhered to no carefully prepared plans ; 
he entrusted nothing to his subordinates ; he 
hugged the entire responsibility. They did not 
know what phase of work the morrow would 
bring. On the day each workman would receive 
a rough section and plan jotted down on the spot, 
accompanied with verbal instructions. If, even 
when finished according to his directions, Wren 
was dissatisfied with this gem of his brain, down it 
had to come, to be substituted by some other im- 
proved idea. Of course Wren had in the first 
place to submit plans for the proposed cathedral. 
It is not likely that any committee would engage 
in anything so important blindfolded. But these 
plans only formed the shell on which to peg any 
new suggestions that might crop up in the prog- 
ress of the work, very much after the fashion 
of a plastic sketch submitted by the sculptor to a 
committee, who look wise and generally make 
foolish comments. The sketch is merely an indi- 
cation of what is to come after, and is intended as 
some guarantee. Without this no conscientious 
committee would commit themselves to any agree- 
ment. They control the expenditure of the public 
subscriptions. If the finished work does not come 
up to the promised standard of excellence, the 
committee can fall back upon the sketch and get 
[338] 



LONDON 

exonerated of all culpable blame. The artist gets 
the abuse for the failure or departure from the 
original. When such necessarily rough sketches 
are faithfully carried out, they often are failures ; 
for what look well in a rough sketch often 
become serious blemishes in the completed work. 
The true artist is never satisfied — that is, that ex- 
traordinary being who has a greater love for art than 
for mere coin — and will alter and improve upon 
his original design at every suggestion (and they 
crowd thick upon him) that makes itself manifest, 
with a total disregard to his own pocket and that 
punctuality so essential to the successful city man. 
He has got his ideal, and he is determined to reach 
it if he has to go through a brick wall. 

Very much in the same way, we may be sure, 
Wren was actuated. His pay was no inducement. 
He received only ^"200 a year throughout the 
whole time of building, and then at one time a 
certain portion of this miserable pittance was with- 
held by order of Parliament, because his detractors 
accused him of delaying the final completion of 
the work from corrupt motives. Wren's clerk of 
the works, by name Nicholas Hawksmoor, who 
afterwards became famous as the builder of several 
London churches, was paid only twenty pence a 
day. Tijou, his ironworker, and Grinling Gib- 
[339] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

bons, the famous carver in wood, were all actuated 
by the same ideal when they helped to give ex- 
pression to their master's genius. However, in 
one or two particulars, which will be mentioned 
later on, Wren's superior judgment was overruled 
by his committee. Much to his intense and last- 
ing mortification they carried the day and stamped 
themselves as incompetent judges. This process 
of realisation, this seeking after an ideal, sometimes 
led Wren into strange architectural difficulties, only 
to be overcome in a masterly way. By discover- 
ing these little inconsistencies, the architect's skil- 
fulness in taking advantage of accidents, in turning 
what appeared an irremediable blunder into a great 
success, shows what a complete understanding he 
had in that great branch of art — architecture — 
and endorses more than ever the great position he 
will always be accorded. 

An example will serve to illustrate his ingenuity. 

How many people, when climbing up the stairs 
that lead to the whispering gallery and elsewhere, 
have ever noticed any peculiarity about them ? 
Yet there is one. When first they were being 
built each step was meant to be of the same height, 
but as they mounted higher, Wren suddenly dis- 
covered that the top one would be an ugly tall one 
to ascend. To avoid this meant one of two things, 
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either to demolish what had already been com- 
pleted and start afresh, or to turn this accident to 
good account. The latter alternative was chosen. 
By gradually reducing the height of the remaining 
steps, he contrived to overcome the difficulty so 
successfully that he has tricked the eye and foot, so 
slight is the difference of each tread. They appear 
to be equidistant as the ones lower down, and the 
illusion can only be dispelled by measurement. 

If any one is observant on reaching the top of 
Ludgate Hill, one peculiarity of the great building 
will strike him. It is that the great west facade 
does not squarely face Ludgate Hill, but bears con- 
siderably to the right. In fact its axis does not 
run due east and west. 

On the advancement of Wren to be principal 
architect, he was not only commissioned to erect 
the Cathedral, but was to rebuild the city. His 
scheme was very thorough. It comprised the 
widening of the streets; the complete insulation 
of all important churches ; the public buildings 
were to have good frontages ; and the halls of the 
City Guilds were to form a quadrangle around the 
Guildhall. To carry these improvements into 
effect, Government issued orders that none except 
Wren's rebuilding would be recognised. Unfortu- 
nately much valuable time was wasted in an attempt 
[34i] 



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at the restoration of the old cathedral, insisted upon 
by the committee, against Wren's wishes, and it 
was only when a portion of the nave fell down that 
Dean Sancroft was able to obtain the consent of the 
committee to raze the old walls to the ground and 
to allow Wren to build from the very foundations. 
The delay of this decision had in the meanwhile 
given opportunity to individuals to erect buildings 
much as they pleased upon their own properties in 
spite of Government prohibition, with the result 
that to a great extent streets and boundaries, which 
existed before the Great Fire, were reproduced. 
It also caused the loss of a far more spacious 
frontage than now exists, which we may be sure 
formed an important item in Wren's design for the 
Cathedral. The architect, however, by receding 
the west front from the old site now occupied by 
the statue of Queen Ann, has cleverly spaced out 
a noble frontage. Another consideration that de- 
termined Wren to alter the axis of the Cathedral 
was his great aversion to utilising the old founda- 
tions. His great ambition was to strike out for 
himself and to be dependent on no one else's work. 
In order to realise this he laid the axis of the new 
work to a point farther north of that of the old 
cathedral, and the plan by this projection has in a 
marvellous way covered practically the same ground, 
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whilst at the same time Wren managed to secure 
fresh ground for his foundations almost throughout 
the whole church. The plan of St. Paul's is a 
Latin cross, and is based upon classical lines. The 
principal front, the west, is composed of a double 
portico of Corinthian fluted pillars, with two flights 
of steps leading down to the road-level. In fact 
the entire body of the ground floor is above the 
elevation of the street. Overhead is a large pedi- 
ment, with its panel sculptured in high relief. On 
either side the west front is flanked by a campanile 
tower, composed at the summit of grouped circular 
pillars. Just inside, on the left, is the Morning 
Chapel, whilst straight on the opposite side lies 
the Chapel of the Order of St. Michael and St. 
George. Proceeding eastwards, the nave is flanked 
by three massive and imposing arches. Then 
comes the dome or cupola, rising to a height of 
365 feet, or 404 feet to the top of the cross. 
Viewed from the interior the inner dome is 225 
feet, and rests at the intersection of the cross. The 
transepts are carried one arch to the north and 
one to the south, each of which are bound by 
semi-circular rows of Corinthian pillars. 

Continuing again towards the east, a couple of 
steps mark the commencement of the choir leading 
from the dome, and is carried forward by three 
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arches on either side. Behind the altar the colossal 
building terminates in the apsidal Chapel of Jesus. 
Throughout the entire length and breadth of the 
building is the crypt below. There under the 
choir, the nearest to the south wall in the crypt 
chapel, is the modest slab that covers the remains 
of the great architect of the grand edifice. Next 
to him lies the body of Lord Leighton, the greatest 
president the Royal Academy has ever had. Just 
in the one corner are buried some of the most 
eminent of England's painters, sculptors, and 
musicians. Those more generally known are Sir 
Joshua Reynolds, the first president of the Royal 
Academy ; Benjamin West, who succeeded him in 
office ; Sir Thomas Lawrence, who next filled it, 
and Sir John Millais, who held the dignity only 
a few months after Leighton's death. The remains 
of J. M. W. Turner, James Barry, John Foley, Sir 
Edwin Landseer, and Sir Arthur Sullivan, musician, 
who are also some of the many great builders 
of art, have all been accorded a little plot of 
ground close to their very great brother-artist and 
predecessor, Sir Christopher Wren. In the centre 
of the crypt, or rather right underneath the dome, 
is a noble mausoleum containing the body of 
England's greatest admiral, Viscount Horatio 
Nelson, whilst just close to him between the crypt 
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chapel and the dome is the massive sarcophagus of 
granite, encased in which is the body of the Duke 
of Wellington. The monument of this hero of 
Waterloo is the chief feature of the plastic art that 
attracts the visitor on looking up the nave. It is 
the great artistic expression of Stevens, the sculptor, 
and dwarfs all other monuments in its immediate 
neighbourhood. We would like to enumerate the 
names of all the great men that lie in the mighty 
shadow of St. Paul's, and pay some tribute to the 
many artists who have, through their monuments, 
endeavoured their best to honour the memories 
of those who have so worthily upheld the tra- 
ditions of the great empire ; but any such attempt 
we feel we must relinquish, and devote all the 
space we can to Wren's work and to that of his 
predecessors. 

The wonderful wood-carving of the choir stall, 
and especially the remarkable realistic floral designs 
of the Bishop's throne, were executed by Grinling 
Gibbons, who lived between 1648 and 1720. He 
was born at Rotterdam, and as a youth came over 
to England, and was discovered by Evelyn, the 
diarist. So astonished was Evelyn by the genius 
of Gibbons, who had just carved in wood a copy of 
Tintoretto's " Crucifixion," that he introduced him 
to Wren, Pepys, and the King. With such power- 
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CATHEDRAL CITIES 

ful friends and his marvellous talent he soon became 
the most famous carver of his age. In viewing 
the great edifice one cannot help thinking from 
whence came the money which enabled Wren to 
carry on the work. With the exception of 
the Tillingham farm there were no endowments, 
and people were, after the fire, far from being 
generous donors. As funds were absolutely neces- 
sary, royal warrants were issued to authorise the 
building committee to borrow on the security of 
the coal and wine taxes. As the remuneration of 
Wren, Grinling Gibbons, and Tijou was nothing to 
speak of, we may take it that practically the whole 
of the proceeds was sunk in the materials and the 
workmen's wages. 

Throughout the whole time of building Wren 
was harassed by petty annoyances on the part of the 
committee, who interfered in small matters of 
technical and artistic knowledge which lay quite 
beyond their province. Against the architect's will 
they insisted upon the erection of the heavy iron 
railings which fence in the Cathedral and mar the 
beautiful gradations of lines from the lowest step 
of the transept entrances to the summit of the 
dome's cross. This only serves as one of many 
such instances. Finally, Wren's persecutors went 
so far as to suspend his patent in the year 171 8, 
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being the forty-ninth of his office and the eighty- 
sixth of his age, and William Benson was appointed 
to succeed him. 

This abrupt dismissal entirely upset any plan of 
internal decoration which Wren might have been 
thinking of, though it is supposed he had proposed 
to enrich and beautify St. Paul's with a scheme of 
colour composed of marble and mosaic work with 
gold and paintings. With the exception of the 
frescoes in the dome by Sir James Thornhill, 
nothing of importance was done for fifty years 
after Wren's death. A proposal to contribute a 
number of paintings from Sir Joshua Reynolds 
and the members of the Royal Academy was nega- 
tived by Dr. Terrick, who was Bishop of London 
at that time. In 1891 W. B. Richmond, A. R. A., 
was commissioned to decorate the choir and the 
dome with mosaic work, it being considered the 
most suitable material on account of the brilliancy 
of its surface, and the easiest to clean without risk 
of injury to the work. Sir William Richmond, 
K.C.B. (as he has since been created), decided to 
depart from modern methods in favour of the 
ancient way of embedding in cement cubes, so 
chosen and disposed to suit the various shades of 
his subjects. They represent various incidents 
taken from the Bible, treated most skilfully, as 
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one would naturally expect from such a talented 
artist. 

The difficulties of such an undertaking, restricted 
within certain limits as it must be by the nature 
of the material, together with the many attendant 
side-issues of which the outside public have not 
the faintest idea, can only be known to the artist 
himself, and perhaps to some of his confreres. 

In course of erection is the gilt iron balustrade 
upon the cornice that runs round the church in 
continuation of that commenced by Wren at the 
west end. This is the gift of Mr. Somers Clarke. 
He has also designed the fittings for the installation 
of the electric light, which is the generous presen- 
tation of Mr. Pierpont Morgan. 

In conclusion, we cannot help recalling the 
incident that cheered the closing years of Wren. 
Once every year the aged artist came from his 
retirement at Hampton Court to London, to spend 
the day seated beneath the great dome, happy to 
view the creation of his great intellect, though 
possibly disturbed now and then by a little grain of 
discontent: how much better he could do it now, 
if only he had youth and opportunity — a worry 
that only assails the true artist. 

In the natural sequence of dates we ought to 
have opened this account with the earlier founda- 
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tions. This we purposely disregarded, and intro- 
duced the reader straightway to the most beau- 
tiful and impressive building of St. Paul's that the 
site has ever had, leaving the others to be dealt 
with until now. 

The earliest known house for religious observance 
on the site of the present cathedral was a temple. 
In accordance with the usual practice of early 
founders, it is not surprising to find that the site 
selected for it was upon the highest spot of ground 
in the city. If we follow the acounts of old 
London, it would have been folly for the Romans 
to have erected an important building like a temple 
upon a lower level, which might have got swamped 
by an unusual rising of the tidal Thames. Apart 
from such consideration, it was not the Roman 
custom to debase, but rather to elevate as high as 
possible, any object they held in great reverence. 
It would form also a convenient centre to rally 
round in defence of any attack. In all accounts of 
the site of St. Paul's the writers have plenty to 
say about the three churches, but seldom, if ever, 
allude to the temple erected by the Romans. 

This is the more curious when etymologists have 

endeavoured to explain the affinity of Christian 

symbols to those of heathenism, showing how it 

was clearly impossible, and hardly to be expected, 

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that pagan customs should be suddenly arrested 
and completely abolished, and an entire set of new 
observances introduced expressly for the new 
faith — Christianity. Such a sudden change could 
not, they contend, be thrust upon a people brought 
up to revere the old heathen deities and observe 
customs rendered sacred through superstition 
and countless ages. They required a gradual 
weaning, and this, so they say, was done by 
christianising the pagan symbols derived from 
nature-worship and adapting them to meet the 
requirements of the new faith, — symbols which, 
in course of time, became so clothed that their 
original significance was lost sight of. 

It would greatly astonish all devout Christians 
to learn that the many objects they look up to 
with sacred awe and wonder of mystery, the in- 
verted triangles which often form an ornament in 
church windows, the facing towards the east, even 
the derivation of the very nave they may happen 
to be in, with a variety of other symbols, existed 
long before Christianity was ever thought of. 
It may also be a little disturbing to learn that, 
quite unintentionally, they are indirectly paying 
respect to many of the most heathen observances 
cloaked under the garb of Christian religion. It 
is far from our intention to advocate a return to 
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pagan darkness, but if this be really true, surely 
there is a very close connection between the temple 
and the Christian church. For this very reason, 
and the more so in that certain lines of their argu- 
ment are not to be refuted, we would accord a 
greater importance than has been hitherto done 
to the Roman temple that undoubtedly first stood 
on the prominent piece of land in the London of 
those days. We do not mean to say that at the 
time this temple was erected to Diana the suffer- 
ings and crucifixion of Our Lord had not already 
borne fruit, but the very existence of the temple 
clearly indicates that in London, at any rate, the 
new faith was very much in its infancy, if it existed 
at all. But the demolition of the temple, to make 
room for the first Christian church, which was 
in turn destroyed in 302 during the Diocletian 
persecution, clearly gives evidence that there must 
have been growing indications of the presence of 
converts and missionaries which led to the erection 
of the latter from the ruins of the former. 

A matter of twenty years later, in the reign of 
Constantine, the church was rebuilt, and completed 
by 337. What the shape of the first one was can 
only be conjectured. It would most probably be 
based upon the temple. The second was un- 
doubtedly Romanesque, if we can rely upon the 

[35i] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

dates of its rebuilding. They fall conveniently be- 
tween 306 and 337, a period of marvellous devel- 
opment of ecclesiastical architecture based upon 
classical remains, which the favourable attitude 
of Constantine towards Christianity encouraged. 
Converts in Rome had increased to such numbers 
that it was felt that some covered-in space was 
essential to protect the congregation against the 
sun's hot rays and inclement weather, the more 
especially as such a building, far from attracting 
hostile attention, would serve to the furtherance 
of Christianity. The form it took was the con- 
version of the basilica. As anything that came 
from Rome was looked upon as a correct thing 
to copy, it is not surprising to learn that travel- 
ling merchants and missionaries were able to con- 
trol the taste of the cities they passed through. 
In this way each country adopted the basilica, 
though in many features they differed from each 
other, consequent on customs, surroundings, and 
climatic conditions. However, about the year 597, 
the pagan Saxons appear to have destroyed the 
church. We come then to the first church of 
St. Paul's of which we have authentic record. It 
was built by Ethelbert, King of Kent, in 607. He 
had first to obtain the sanction of Sebert, who 
claimed London as being in his dominion of the 
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st. Paul's and ludgate hill 



LONDON 

East Angles. To this see Mellitus was appointed 
as the first bishop. He was one of the forty- 
monks who had accompanied Augustine in 597 to 
help to carry out Pope Gregory the Great's scheme, 
which was to divide England into two provinces 
with metropolitans of equal dignity at London 
and York, with twelve suffragans to each. Since 
then London's see has become third, ranking next 
to York. In the course of four hundred and 
eighty years, 6o7-io87,nodoubt Ethelbert's church 
underwent considerable alteration, probably com- 
mencing with a very humble building, perhaps 
chiefly of wood, and as portions got out of repair 
such characteristics of stone buildings, as learnt from 
travellers returning from Italy, were introduced, 
thus gradually transforming the Saxon church to 
architecture "in the Roman way." For after the 
departure of the Romans the Britons at first appear 
to have returned to primitive methods of architec- 
ture. It is only as time progressed that they 
gradually became initiated, through the visits of 
travellers, into the working of stone, which, after 
the arrival of the Normans, came into more 
general practice. 

To provide for the maintenance of St. Paul's, 
Ethelbert endowed it with a farm at Tillingham 
in Essex. The property is still managed, the 
[355] 



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rents of which are controlled by the Dean and 
Chapter. 

The chief event which took place within its 
walls was the first great Ecclesiastical Council of 
the English Church under the presidency of 
Archbishop Lanfranc. Twelve years afterwards, 
in 1087, a great conflagration completely de- 
stroyed the church. No time was lost, for appar- 
ently in the same year building operations were put 
in hand for what many writers call Old St. Paul's, 
the second church. By this time we may take it 
that architecture in England had advanced con- 
siderably, and if anything it was a rather fortunate 
accident that overtook Ethelbert's building. The 
nation had by now realised that 1 000 a. d. was 
the dreaded millennium of the past ; they recog- 
nised they had a stern master in William the Con- 
queror, who, though he might be harsh upon them, 
would allow no one else to be so. For some 
years prior to the millennium few buildings of any 
importance were erected, so thoroughly had the 
mind been terrorised at the prospect of the world 
coming to an end, and even after it had proved 
false, the reaction does not seem to have taken 
place till the accession of the Norman. When it 
did occur, we see by examples now extant what a 
great advance architecture had made, or rather, 
[356] 



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the knowledge of stonework had become more 
general. This can only be attributed to the monks 
and stonemasons who followed in the wake of the 
Conquest. The plan of the Norman church of 
St. Paul's was the Latin cross. The body of it 
appears to have been narrower and considerably 
longer than Wren's cathedral. In fact we are 
much indebted to the numerous discoveries of Mr. 
Penrose, and we learn that the west front came 
right to the fore of Queen Anne's statue, which 
then did not exist. Another great difference was 
that the axis of Old St. Paul's, as one faces the 
west front, was more to the left of the statue, 
whereas that of the present building runs right 
through the centre of it. At the outset the 
Cathedral consisted of a nave of twelve bays, 
transepts, and a short apsidal choir built in the 
round arched style peculiar to Norman architecture. 
The whole then stood within spacious precincts 
enclosed by a continuous wall. In the wall were 
six gates. The principal one opened in the west 
on to Ludgate Hill, whilst the second, at St. Paul's 
Alley, led to " Little North Dore " ; the third, at 
Canon's Alley, showed the way to the north tran- 
sept door ; the fourth was called Little Gate, and 
led from Cheapside to Paul's Cross (where now 
stands a fountain) ; the fifth, St. Augustine's Gate, 
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CATHEDRAL CITIES 

faced Watling Street ; and the sixth was the entrance 
from the side of the river to the south transept. 
A matter of 130 years later, it was decided to 
extend eastwards from the choir and introduce the 
newly developed style, which was the use of the 
pointed arch. The new work, consisting of eight 
bays, was carried out, but it caused the demolition 
of the old parish church of St. Faith, which lay 
right in the course. As some compensation the 
parishioners were allowed to use a portion of the 
crypt under the new choir as their parish church. 
After the Great Fire much controversy arose. The 
parishioners of St. Faith's claimed their right to 
bury their dead in the whole space beneath the 
choir of Wren's cathedral. This the Chapter 
disallowing, a lawsuit ensued, which resulted in a 
compromise, the parishioners being satisfied with 
rights of burial in the north aisle of the crypt. 
The "new work" was solemnly dedicated in 1240. 
In the meantime a spire, 489 feet in height, was 
put in hand and was finally completed in 1 3 15. 
The spire of Old St. Paul's proved to be a great 
source of anxiety. It was struck by lightning 
three times, and eventually was completely de- 
stroyed by fire, from a fourth lightning in 
the reign of Elizabeth, in 1 56 1 . It was never 
put up again. Right in the angle of the south 
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transept and the nave existed a fair-sized Chap- 
ter House, which appears to have had cloisters, the 
remains of which can still be seen in the gardens 
on the south side of the nave, whilst on the 
north side of the choir the position of Paul's 
Cross is defined by the insertion of stones let into 
the ground. Paul's Cross, which by order of Parlia- 
ment was demolished in 1643, was a pulpit of wood, 
mounted upon steps of stone, and covered with lead. 
At this place, the Court, the Mayor, the Alder- 
men, and the chief citizens used to assemble to 
listen to sermons from the most eminent divines, 
who were appointed to preach every Sunday in 
the forenoon. It was used as early as 1259, and 
not only were sermons delivered from it, but 
also political and ecclesiastical discourses were 
held. 

Old St. Paul's, by the time of Charles I., got into 
such a terrible state of dilapidation that steps were 
taken to put it into thorough repair. A fund was 
established and the work was intrusted to Inigo 
Jones. He got as far as the refacing of the Cathe- 
dral inside and out, and the adding of a classical 
portico, when his labours were interrupted by the 
Commonwealth. The famous architect died before 
the Restoration. In the meantime Cromwell's 
troops did considerable damage, what with stabling 
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CATHEDRAL CITIES 

their horses within the sacred edifice and employ- 
ing their leisure time in defacing the building. 
They removed and sold the scaffolding, which 
Inigo Jones had set up for the purpose of restoring 
the vaulting, and in consequence much of the roof- 
work fell down. At the Restoration, Dr. Wren, 
as he was then called, was appointed Assistant- 
Surveyor-General of his Majesty's Works, and 
instructed to repair the fabric. However, on 
September 2, 1666, the Great Fire of London 
broke out and completely destroyed Old St. 
Paul's. Instead of carrying out his scheme of 
restoration, Wren was afterwards enabled to leave 
to posterity this masterpiece of genius that took 
him from the year 1675 till the year 1710 to 
realise. 

How is one to describe London, the capital of 
the British Empire, and the largest city in the 
world ? The subject-matter would take volumes, 
if an exhaustive treatise be required. Here it 
necessarily can only be a slight sketch. If we are 
to put any reliance on Geoffrey of Monmouth, a 
city existed here 1 1 07 years before Christ was 
born, and 354 even before Rome came into exist- 
ence. The founder, he asserts, was Brute, a 
lineal descendant of the Trojan iEneas, by whom 
the city was called New Troy, or Troy-novant, 
[360] 






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till the advent of Lud, who changed it to Coer 
Lud or Lud-town, and encompassed it with walls. 
Though the king's name is made evident in Lud- 
gate Hill, which runs up to St. Paul's west front, 
this author's statements are considered as pleasing 
fictions by serious-minded authorities. Again, it 
is said to have been the capital of the Trinobantes 
in 54 b. c. With the arrival of the Romans we 
get more definite information, yet we are inclined 
to think, that they must have found some kind of a 
British settlement, the more especially if we bear 
in mind that, until the Romans came, the mouth 
of the Thames was close at hand. The Thames of 
to-day was not the Thames of that time. It was 
very much shallower, possibly quite easy to ford at 
low tide. This was caused by the great inunda- 
tion over large tracts of the counties of Kent and 
Essex, which took place every time it became high 
tide. 

Till the Romans set the example of reclaiming 
the land and confining the river to its channel, a 
great volume of water had thus expended itself 
and reduced the depth considerably. But to the 
early Britons, where the higher level of land 
checked and brought back the wandering Thames, 
to continue its upward course within its proper 
confinement, must have appeared the mouth. In 
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CATHEDRAL CITIES 

their belief that such was the case it is only natural 
to suppose that the Britons would take advantage 
of such an excellent site. A clearing was gradually- 
made, for London was well wooded once, on the 
highest ground, which would be somewhere from 
the site of St. Paul's to as far as the Bank of 
England, and a temple was erected within some 
groves. To the Romans in 61 a. d. it was known 
as Londinium or Colonia Augusta, the former, no 
doubt, being a Latinised form of Lyn-Din, meaning 
" the town on the lake." Boadicea, Queen of the 
Iceni, in the same year is credited with having 
reduced it to ashes, and to have put 70,000 
Romans and strangers to the sword. This whole- 
sale slaughter was punished, in the same year, by 
Suetonius, who retaliated by a massacre of 80,000 
Britons, a defeat that so preyed upon Boadicea 
that she promptly poisoned herself. Tacitus, the 
Roman historian, who lived about 90 years after 
Christ, relates how Suetonius felt constrained to 
abandon London, " that place of busy traffic and 
thronged with traders," to the British, because he 
did not feel equal to the task of defending it. This 
is surely a proof that London was no mushroom 
city, though Tacitus makes no mention of a mint, 
as he does when he describes Verulamium and 
Camulodum. There also appears to have been 
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another British settlement on the south bank, now 
known as Southwark. This district, by the way, 
has just within the last few days been erected into 
a see with the cathedral, or throne, installed in 
its fine old church of St. Saviour. This is where 
Gower, the father of English poets, is interred, and 
is honoured with a quaint coloured monument 
principally of carved wood, and the holy precincts 
also contain the remains of Shakespeare's brother. 
Southwark is the Londinium attributed to 
Ptolemy's description as being on the south bank 
of the Thames, though it does not discredit the 
existence of that on the north. As to the actual 
size and exact site of early London, it will be 
many years before that can be accurately deter- 
mined. As old buildings are pulled down and 
excavations are made for foundations, speculation 
becomes much narrowed. The discoveries by 
Wren, and recently by Mr. Arthur Taylor, the 
late Mr. H. Black, Mr. Roach-Smith and Mr. 
J. E. Price, one of our greatest authorities, have 
thrown much light on early London. It has been 
found that cemeteries once existed in Cheapside, 
on the site of St. Paul's, close to Newgate and 
elsewhere, which are known to date from the 
Later Roman period. On the assumption that 
it was an illegal Roman practice to bury the 

[363] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

dead within the city walls, it follows they must 
have been outside, thus limiting the habitable 
area. 

As to when and where the first bridge spanned 
the Thames are points difficult to decide. Sir 
George Airy supposes that the bridge mentioned 
by Dion Cassius (43 a. d.) at the mouth of the 
Thames was not far from the site of London 
Bridge, on the inference that the mouth of the 
Thames of early times was close to this site. Dr. 
Guest, on the other hand, recognises it as a bridge 
made by the Britons, but places it as being con- 
structed over the marshy valley of the Lea, near 
Stratford, his theory being that the Britons would 
have been unable to bridge over a tidal river like 
the Thames with the width of three hundred yards, 
and a difference of nearly twenty feet in the rise and 
fall of the water. From remains found of ancient 
piles in the river-bed, and the great number of Ro- 
man coins, a well-known practice observed by this 
Latin race to commemorate any important under- 
taking, antiquarians seem to agree that there was a 
Roman bridge in the Anno Domini period of their 
occupation, and that indications point to its location 
at London Bridge. In their time London was a 
port of considerable importance. As many as eight 
hundred vessels are said to have been employed in 
[364] 



LONDON 

exporting corn alone in the year 359, which shows 
that agriculture was in full swing. With the 
departure of the Romans in 409 the city became 
the capital of the Saxon kingdom of Essex, and 
was called Lundenceaster. Subsequent events of 
importance are those that occurred under the 
dynasties of the Norman (1 066-1 154), the Planta- 
genet (1 154-1485), the Tudor (1485-1603), the 
Stuart ( 1 603-1 714), interrupted in the midst by 
Cromwell's Protectorate, and finally the Hanoverian 
succession, which brings us down to this year of 
grace, with Edward VII. King of Great Britain 
and Ireland, Emperor of India, and monarch of the 
greatest and most prosperous empire. To attempt 
to give a detailed account of all that happened 
under the successive heads of the State is clearly 
impossible. Two events, however, stand out pro- 
minently. One was the Great Plague of London 
that commenced in December 1 664, and carried off" 
a matter of ninety thousand victims. The horrors 
of this pestilence are graphically described in the 
Diary of Samuel Pepys, who was an eye-witness. 
Daniel Defoe, though writing some years after, 
has given us a wonderfully realistic account in his 
" History of the Plague." Fires were kept up 
night and day, to purify the air, for three days. No 
sooner did the infection come to an end than the 

[365] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

great conflagration of September 2, 1666, broke 
out. It began at one o'clock in the morning in a 
baker's shop in Pudding Lane, behind Monument 
Yard. It spread from the Tower to the Temple 
Church of the Middle Temple in Fleet Street, and 
away to Holborn. In the short space of four days 
it destroyed eighty-nine churches (including St. 
Paul's), the city gates, the Royal Exchange, the 
Custom House, Guildhall, Sion College, and many 
other public buildings, besides some fourteen thou- 
sand houses and the ruin of four hundred streets. 
The Monument, built by Wren in 1 671-1672, 
commemorates the origin of the fire, 202 feet from 
its base. 

It is only within recent years that London — by 
which is meant London in its broadest sense ; that 
is, including the city and excluding the suburbs — 
has been divided into a number of townships. It 
is now no longer correct to call Marylebone, Pad- 
dington, and many other such, " parishes." They 
are all boroughs, and possess a mayor and cor- 
poration of their own, each with a townhall to 
support the dignity. They have a certain amount 
to say in local affairs, the more important being 
under the control of the London County Coun- 
cil, who in turn hold themselves responsible to 
Parliament. 

[366] 



LONDON 

The jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor of London 
proper is confined within certain limits, as defined 
by an irregular line of boundary commencing from 
the Tower, northward through the Minories, past 
Aldgate, behind Liverpool Street Station, working 
round to Holborn, across Chancery Lane, to end at 
Middle Temple. His career is generally marked 
by an apprenticeship of seven years' duration to 
some city guild, such as the Mercers', the Grocers', 
Merchant Tailors', Vintners', Armourers and 
Braziers', and some seventy others. At the end of 
this period he obtains, on the payment of a certain 
fee and a glance at a series of Hogarth's " Progress 
of the Rake " at the Guildhall, the freedom of the 
Ancient City of London. As a vacancy occurs in 
his company he fills it as a " Liveryman." After 
these initial stages he is open to become a Master 
of the said company, and becomes eligible for 
alderman, sheriff, and Lord Mayor. The candi- 
date's ambition, however, is tempered according to 
his means ; for to worthily fill the office of the first 
magistrate he must be prepared to be considerably 
out of pocket, though the loss is generally com- 
pensated by a knighthood, and on special occasions 
by a baronetcy. Though he may be entirely devoid 
of any legal training, the Lord Mayor during 
his tenure of office, or the aldermen, are always 
[367] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

present on the bench at the Central Criminal 
Court, which sits at the Old Bailey. This court 
was created in 1834 to bring under one jurisdiction 
the criminal cases that are supplied by the immense 
population around the city. Opposite the Man- 
sion House, the official residence of the Lord 
Mayor, is the Bank of England. The Royal Mint 
faces the Tower of London, and was constituted as 
now about 1617, whilst the buildings date about 
1 8 10. The first known Warder or Master was in 
the reign of Henry I., the wardership becoming 
extinct with Lord Maryborough (1814-23), and 
the last Master was Professor Thomas Graham, 
who died in 1869. By the Coinage Act in the 
following year the Master of the Mint, who as 
such had existed up till then, was abolished, and 
the post was combined with that of the Chancellor 
of the Exchequer. On the other side of the road 
is the famous Tower of London, the White Tower 
or central keep of which was built in 1078 by 
Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, in obedience to 
the command of William the Conqueror. By the 
side of this historic pile is the Tower Bridge, the 
marvellous engineering feat of Sir Horace Jones 
and Sir J. Wolfe Barry. It opens upwards in the 
centre to allow the shipping to pass through. 
Right away towards the east are the great docks, 
[368] 



LONDON 

the principal of which are the London Docks and 
the East India Docks. 

Passing west of the city are the great Law 
Courts in the Strand, designed by Streeter. 

Behind them is Lincoln's Inn, and in front 
across Fleet Street, is the Temple. Gray's Inn 
is in Holborn, as well as Staple Inn, with the 
picturesque old-fashioned frontage, once the pre- 
vailing style of London's domestic architecture. 
Smaller Inns are Clifford's Inn, threatened with 
demolition, with Old Serjeant's Inn adjoining, 
while Serjeant's Inn is on the other side of Fleet 
Street, nearer to Ludgate Circus, and not far from 
the Temple. 

In Trafalgar Square a priceless collection of 
old masters' paintings are housed in the National 
Gallery, once the premises of the Royal Academy 
of Arts, who moved to Burlington House, Picca- 
dilly. 

Regent Street, with its shops, and Bond Street, 
the great centre for art dealers and picture galleries, 
hardly require further description. The British 
Museum, the South Kensington Museum, and 
numerous others ; the great hospitals, — St. Bar- 
tholomew's, Guy's, Charing Cross, and many more 
equally as well known ; the wonderful open spaces 
as typified by Hyde Park ; the Palaces of Buck- 

H [ 369 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

ingham, St. James, and Kensington ; besides the 
Cathedral of St. Paul, the Abbey, and Houses of 
Parliament, Westminster, with the newly erected 
Roman Catholic Cathedral, close to Victoria 
Station, comprise only a tithe of what can be 
seen in the capital of the British Empire. 



[370] 



Eboracum. 
(" Doomsday Book.") 

ONE can hardly think of York without re- 
calling the wonderful ride of Dick Turpin 
on his famous mare Black Bess. It came 
about one day that he was resting at the Kilburn 
Wells — a site now taken up by a modern banking- 
house — - in the company of another notorious high- 
wayman, King, who seemed very much depressed. 
"Dick," he said, "I have had a most curious 
dream. I seemed to be dying from a pistol-shot 
by you." " No, no," protested Dick, and was 
doing his best to cheer up his friend when suddenly 
unusual commotion arose outside, followed by the 
immediate entrance of the bailiffs to apprehend 
King dead or alive. One of his numerous mis- 
tresses had given him away in a mad fit of jealousy. 
It took little time for Turpin and King to reach 
their horses, which were always tethered close 
by. Turpin was soon in the saddle, but turn- 
[37i] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

ing round he perceived that his comrade was 
in difficulties. The horse was restive, and its 
master was making vain attempts to mount. To 
draw his pistol out of the holster and empty its 
contents towards the man who had by now laid his 
hand on King was a moment's thought. But to 
Turpin's horror he saw the dream realised. His 
friend dead, it was folly to dally longer. Amidst 
a volley of shots he quickly wheeled his mare 
round and galloped off, hotly pursued by the 
excisemen, who had soon recognised him. Along 
West End Lane into Finchley, away towards 
Barnet, his mare, gallantly taking every toll-gate, 
soon carried her master out of immediate danger. 
It was then that Dick Turpin determined to try 
the fettle of Bess by carrying out his long-cherished 
ambition of riding ninety miles to York. Without 
a change of mounts, and only an occasional rinse- 
out of his faithful animal's mouth with some strong 
stimulant, he accomplished his wish, but at the 
sacrifice of his mare. She died from exhaustion, 
having, however, saved her master and cheated 
justice. This is no legend, but an absolute fact — 
a story that has quickened the imagination of every 
English schoolboy, accompanied with a regret that 
such good old rollicking days no longer exist, that 
there is no relieving rich merchants of well-filled 
[ 372] 



YORK 

purses, no opportunity of calming the fears of fair 
ladies, no chance of acting the grand seigneur 
towards the poor, no languishing in Newgate with 
a glorious death at Tyburn. No, that is all a 
dream now. 

Though customs have greatly changed since 
those days of unsafe travelling, the quaint streets, 
the great gateways of bold architecture, and the 
magnificent church all lend the city of York 
the wonderful fascination of age, heightened by 
the situation of the river Ouse at its junction 
with the Foss. 

In what county of England the famous city 
and glorious minster of York are, requires little 
mental effort. It is the most ancient metropolitan 
see in England. At one time great controversy 
arose between York and Canterbury as to prece- 
dence. It was thought that whichever one of 
them could successfully prove that the one first 
confirmed was meant by Pope Gregory to be the 
senior, should be the superior. As, however, no 
satisfactory understanding could be arrived at, the 
question was left to the Papal Court at Rome. By 
its decision it was determined in favour of Can- 
terbury, so the Archbishop of Canterbury styles 
himself Primate of All England, whilst the Arch- 
bishop of York rests content with Primate of 
[375] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

England ; the reduction of one word, but it 
means a great deal. In the history of England 
we see what part these two metropolitans have 
taken, how they have occasionally fallen out over 
what now appears to us the most trifling matters, 
but which no doubt were considered of most vital 
importance at the time. In this account they 
need no recapitulation, for they can be turned up 
in any history book on England. 

In the very early years of Anno Domini, when 
Christianity in England was quite in its infancy, — 
or to be more exact about the year 180, — it is said 
that King Lucius established the Metropolitan See 
at York. In those days, however, it could hardly 
have been called by that name. Prior to this 
monarch's time it was the town of the Brigantes, 
and was known as Evrauc. They appear to have 
been a very hardy race. Through them it was 
that Caractacus, one of two sons of Cymbeline, 
after the Silures were defeated by Ostorius, made 
the last important stand against the Romans. That 
is to say, with the submission of the Brigantes and 
the capture of Caractacus, all unity among the 
British tribes came to an end, so that it became 
comparatively an easy task for the Romans to 
complete the conquest of England. 

This they did in the second campaign of 
[376] 




YORK 

THE SHAMBLES 



YORK 

Agricola, about the year 79 a. d., and the Roman 
power was due to the divided factions and parties 
of the Britons, who, though they might have 
kings and all the outward show of sovereignty, 
were merely puppets in the hands of the con- 
querors. From this year to 400 the Romans 
steadily evolved a unity of their own in Britain. 
On their departure, history tells us how the British 
implored them to come back and protect them, 
so helpless had they become in the art of attack 
and defence. 

As Evrauc belonged to the Brigantes, we may 
take it that it was the chief town of the British in 
the north when it passed into the hands of the 
Romans after the defeat of Caractacus. By them 
it was called Eboracum, and became the metro- 
politan of the north, the military capital and centre 
of the Romans in Britain. 

The original Roman city was rectangular in 
form and of considerable dimensions. It is 
supposed to have been laid out in imitation of 
ancient Rome, on the east bank of the Ouse. A 
temple to Bellona was erected as well as a prastorium, 
in which the emperors sat, for Eboracum was 
honoured by the great heads of Rome. The first 
to reside here was Hadrian, in 1 20, whilst Severus 
died in the city in 211. This last had come over 
[379] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

with his sons, Caracalla and Geta, and a large army, 
and the attendance of his whole court. His time 
was busily engaged in reducing the troublesome 
Britons to proper submission. The two sons nobly 
helped their aged father. Caracalla completed the 
erection of a strong wall of stone nearly eighty miles 
long, close to the rampart of earth raised by Hadrian, 
in accordance with the wish of Severus, to form a 
more effectual barrier against future incursions of 
the natives. During the residence of the court, 
Eboracum reached to the highest state of splendour. 
The constant visits of tributary kings and foreign 
ambassadors, who came to pay their allegiance to 
Rome, caused it to be unsurpassed among the cities 
of the world, so much so that it came to be called 
"Altera Rome." The remains of the Emperor 
Severus, though he died here in 212, were enclosed 
in an urn and sent to Rome. 

The Emperor Constantius Chlorus died also in 
Eboracum in 307. His son, Constantius the Great, 
was present at his father's death, and by the army 
proclaimed emperor. 

After 409 the Greek and Latin writers tell us 
that Britain was no longer ruled by the Romans. 
Their statements are borne out by the Saxon 
Chronicle. This did not mean that there was a 
general exodus of the Latin race or civilisation, 
[380] 



YORK 

for the connection of Rome with its British 
provinces did not cease suddenly, though the tie 
gradually became weakened, because from 409 
Roman officials probably ceased to be sent regu- 
larly. Britain still considered itself to be Roman, 
and the inhabitants, or rather the upper classes, 
continued to speak Latin. Even in the sixth 
century they were pleased to call themselves 
" Romani," and held themselves aloof from the 
surrounding barbarians — a term which we know 
was applied by the Romans to tribes, not necessarily 
because they were uncivilised, but rather as a con- 
venient mark of distinction from themselves. Since 
their departure from Britain, archaeologists have 
found rich mines of Roman remains in every place 
of their occupation, and none more so than at 
York ; but to enumerate the many discoveries would 
require more space than can here be allotted. 
Suffice it to say that the " multangular tower " 
is a notable evidence of the Roman occupation, 
though it is much dilapidated. 

The city was frequently assailed by the Picts and 
Scots, and after the arrival of the Saxons it suffered 
considerably from the many wars that arose be- 
tween the Britons and their new allies, as well as 
in the struggle for supremacy during the establish- 
ment of the several kingdoms of the Octarchy, and 
[381] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

other minor wars. Early in the seventh century 
Eboracum underwent a change. By the Saxons 
the city was called Euro wic, Euore wic, and 
Eofor wic, which by Leland is supposed to have 
been borrowed from its situation on the river Eure, 
now known as the Ouse ; but by what process these 
titles came to be contracted into its present name 
of York seems rather difficult to account. How- 
ever, under the name of Eoforwic, the city 
flourished as the capital of the Bretwaldas early in 
the seventh century. Consequent on the conver- 
sion of Edwin, King of Northumbria, to Chris- 
tianity, resulting from his marriage to Ethelburga, 
daughter of King Ethelbert of Kent, the city was 
erected in 624 into an archiepiscopal see, over 
which Paulinus, the confessor of the Queen, was 
made primate. In addition to this, Edwin had 
constituted the city as the metropolitan of his 
kingdom. Edwin's work upon the church, which 
he dedicated to St. Peter, and the missionary work 
of Paulinus, were suddenly suspended by an attack 
of the Britons under Cadwallo in 633. Edwin 
was killed, whilst Ethelburga escaped into Kent 
with Paulinus. The church in the meantime was 
allowed to decay until it was restored by Oswald, 
successor to Edwin. He managed to regain pos- 
session of his kingdom after a sanguinary conflict 
[382] 




O < 
o 



YORK 

with Cadwallo, who, with the chief officers, was 
killed during the fight. 

We have it by Bede that on the site of the 
wooden church, in which the baptism was con- 
ducted by Paulinus, Edwin erected "a large and 
more noble basilica of stone," dedicated to St. Peter ; 
but, as we have seen, the work was interrupted by 
the untimely death of the founder. Finally it was 
repaired by Archbishop Wilfrid, the third prelate 
to succeed to the government of the See and pro- 
vinces. His predecessor had been Cedda, who had 
been appointed on the death of Paulinus in Kent. 
The establishment was continued on its original 
lines by Wilfrid and his successors till the Norman 
Conquest. In the meantime York, under Arch- 
bishop Egbert, from 730 to 766, became a most 
celebrated centre of learning, and reached to its 
height under Alcuin. The former had repaired 
the ravages caused by fire in 74 1 to the Cathedral, 
which is described by Alcuin as " a most magnifi- 
cent basilica." The city fell into the hands of the 
Danes. They soon made it an important seat of 
commerce, and constituted it the capital of the 
Danish jarl. In 1050 the Abbey of St. Mary's 
was founded by Siward, who is supposed to have 
died at York five years later and to have been 
buried in St. Olave's Church. William the Con- 
's [ 385 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

queror then seized York in 1068 and erected a 
tower. The new condition of things was not 
allowed to remain long. Sweyn, in the following 
year, sent his two sons, Harold and Canute, with a 
numerous following of Danes. They disembarked 
on the shores of the Humber, and, joined by Edgar 
Atheling and his army, advanced to York, laying 
waste the land they passed through. To prevent 
the enemy from fortifying itself, the garrison fired 
the houses in the suburbs ; but the flames were 
fanned by a strong wind into a devastating confla- 
gration, in the midst of which the Danes entered 
and put to the sword the whole Norman garri- 
son. This slaughter was eventually punished by 
the Conqueror, who, harbouring a suspicion of 
treachery on the part of the citizens, reduced 
them to his idea of submission by burning the 
city about their ears and desolating the neighbour- 
ing country from the Humber to the Tyne. Nev- 
ertheless the city gradually recovered in the two 
succeeding reigns. Archbishop Thomas endeav- 
oured to patch up the Cathedral, but eventually 
pulled it down and rebuilt it. The city continued 
to advance in prosperity in spite of many attacks 
from the Scots. In 1088 William Rufus laid the 
first stone for a large monastery for the Benedictine 
Order, which was dedicated to St. Mary. 
[386] 




YORK 

MONK BAR 



YORK 

In 1 1 37, during the reign of Stephen, a terrible 
fire broke out which destroyed, it is said, the 
Cathedral, the monastery, and some forty parish 
churches. On the accession of Henry I. the city 
received its first charter of incorporation, whilst in 
1 175 Henry II. held here one of the first meetings 
which came to be afterwards called Parliament. It 
also served as an occasion for William of Scotland 
to pay his homage to the King in the Cathedral. 
In the reign of Richard I. the fury of the populace 
was excited against the Jews for having mingled with 
the crowd at the Coronation in London. In spite 
of a royal proclamation in their favour, they were 
terribly persecuted throughout the country, espe- 
cially in the big towns. York was by no means 
behind the times in 1190. Many of the Jews, 
having defended the castle in which they had 
taken refuge, put their own wives and children to 
death, and then committed suicide. Those who 
did not were cruelly tortured to death by the 
Christians. In the meantime it is pleasing to note 
that certain portions of Yorkshire had been re- 
claimed from its wild state wherever the Cistercians 
and other orders of monks had settled. They 
introduced sheep-farming, besides tilling the re- 
claimed wilderness. The subsequent history of 
York is taken up with the many visits of royalty 
[389] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

and benefits conferred, till we get to the year 1 569, 
when the Council of the North was established, 
after the suppression of the rebellion known as the 
" Pilgrimage of Grace." This was consequent on 
the dissolution of the monasteries, the demolition 
of ten parish churches, and the wholesale appro- 
priation of revenues and materials by Henry VIII. 
The principal leader was Robert Aske, who, with 
40,000 men attended by priests with sacred ban- 
ners, seized this city and Hull. They were soon 
dispersed, Aske being brought to York and hanged 
upon Clifford's Tower. Though suppressed for a 
time, public feeling broke out into an insurrec- 
tion during Elizabeth's reign to restore Roman 
Catholicism. It ended in their discomfiture, 
Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland, being 
beheaded at York as the chief ringleader, and his 
head stuck on the Micklegate Bar as a warning 
to others. History records a Parliament held here 
by Charles I. in 1642, when he promised to govern 
legally. In fact, he seems to have removed his 
entire court here, or rather those willing to follow 
him. However, as all attempts at negotiation had 
failed, he advanced to Nottingham and there erected 
his standard. After the battle of Marston Moor, 
which is about six miles out, York was taken for 
the Parliament by Sir Thomas Fairfax in 1644. 

[390] 




i 








,5c. •> 

* ''""a! *>•»*- f^l A racy ' 


£ 


fe if. 



it 



3fV^ 



Y,J 



JLSrtte* 



YORK 

MICKLEGATE BAR 



YORK 

After the Restoration, Charles II. was royally 
welcomed. James II. aroused public indignation 
by attempting to introduce Roman Catholicism at 
York, which only led to the persecution of the 
followers of that religion. Subsequent events have 
been principally the visits of royalty. In 1829 
terrible consternation arose at the sight of smoke 
issuing from the roof of the Cathedral. The act 
was afterwards proved to have been that of a mad- 
man who had secreted himself for that purpose in 
the Cathedral after the evening service was over. 
The whole of the choir was gutted by the flames. 
The Cathedral, after Sweyn's visitation, had been 
rebuilt by Archbishop Thomas of Bayeux. 

It was commenced in 1070 and finished by 
1 100. Of this building little now remains, it hav- 
ing been destroyed by an accidental fire in 1 1 37. It 
remained in a desolate state till Archbishop Roger 
rebuilt the apsidal choir and crypt (1154-1191). 
To this was added the south transept by Arch- 
bishop Walter de Grey (1215— 1255) in the reign 
of Henry III., whilst the north transept and the 
central tower were erected by John le Romaine, 
who was at that time treasurer of the Cathedral. 
The two transepts, besides the crypt, are the oldest 
portions of the present building. They belong to 
the best years of the Early English style. The 

[ 393] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

south transept has a distinctive feature in its 
magnificent rose window, whilst the north transept 
is adorned with a series of beautiful worked lancet 
windows, known as the Five Sisters. The son of 
the treasurer, who became also Archbishop, laid 
the foundation of the nave about 1 290, which was 
completed about forty years later by Archbishop 
Melton, who also built the west front and the two 
western towers. The Chapter House also belongs 
to the same period. In 1 36 1 Archbishop Thoresby 
commenced to erect the Lady Chapel and presbytery 
after the Early Perpendicular style. He also in 
eight years completed the central tower, which he 
had taken down in 1 370, whilst previous to this he 
had started to rebuild the choir in 1361 to render 
it more in accordance with the character of the 
nave, though it was not finished till about 1400. 
It is a very fine example of the Late Perpendicu- 
lar style. By this time all traces of the ancient 
Norman architecture, with the exception of the 
eastern portion of the crypt by Archbishop Roger, 
which still remains, had been eliminated. To 
keep in character it was decided to recase the 
central tower and alter it into a perpendicular 
tower with a lantern, which was completed in 
1 444. With the erection of the south-west tower 
in 1432, and the north-west tower in 1470, the 
[394] 



YORK 

church was completed, and two years later was re- 
consecrated. Besides the fire of the madman in 
1829, when the woodwork was entirely destroyed, 
another one broke out in 1 840 in the south-west 
tower, reducing it to a wreck. Since then it has 
undergone the usual restoration. The whole re- 
sembles a Latin cross, and constitutes a glorious 
minster, the beauty of which can be more readily 
appreciated by a glance at Mr. Collins' work than 
by any amount of word-painting. The other 
illustrations give also a faithful description of the 
old gateways. They are the four principal gates 
or "bars" to the walls of the city — walls which 
contain Norman and Early English work, but 
principally belong to the Decorative style. 
Micklegate Bar is the south entrance, upon which 
were exposed the heads of traitors, and is Norman. 
Monk Bar leads on to the Scarborough Road, and 
probably belongs to the fourteenth century. It 
was formerly called Goodramgate, which was 
changed after the Restoration to Monk Bar, in 
honour of General Monk. Walmgate Bar dates 
from the reign of Edward I., and still retains the 
barbican rebuilt in 1648, whilst Bootham Bar, 
with a Norman arch, is the main entrance from 
the north. Stonegate is situated practically in the 
heart of the city, not far from the minster. It is 
[395] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

a curious piece of architecture. York has been 
most happy with regard to the birth of men who 
have distinguished themselves. It has yielded to the 
Church of Rome eight saints and three cardinals, 
and to England no less than twelve lord chancellors, 
two lord treasurers and lord presidents of the north. 
But the earliest recorded birth of an eminent native 
takes us out of the ordinary ranks of men. If any 
name is well known it is certainly that of the 
first Roman emperor who embraced Christianity. 
He is Constantine the Great. Flaccus Albanus 
was also born here. He was a pupil of the 
great ecclesiastical historian, the Venerable Bede. 
Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland and son of 
Siward ; Thomas Morton, in turn Bishop of 
Chester, Lichfield, Coventry, and Durham, first 
came into the world at York; whilst of more 
recent times there was Gent, an eminent painter 
and historian ; Swinburn, a distinguished lawyer ; 
and Flaxman, one of England's most celebrated 
sculptors, who is perhaps as well known by his 
beautiful designs for the Wedgwood pottery as by 
any other work of his. Not to know who Flaxman 
was is almost as bad as to admit ignorance of the 
existence of Michael Angelo. 



[396] 



»tncl)estec 




HIS ancient city on the river Itchen in 
Hampshire is inseparably bound with 
William of Wykeham. He it was who 
rebuilt a great part of the magnificent cathedral 
now extant, and who founded the great public 
school of Winchester, at which so many celebrated 
men have received their education. These form 
the great attraction of the city, and rescue it from 
oblivion. It is with sorrow we foresee that the 
inevitable restoration will take place in the east 
end of this venerable structure. For many years 
past the foundations were known to be in an unsafe 
condition, but recently great alarm was caused by 
the appearance of large cracks in the upper masonry 
and of the bulging in of the groining of the crypt. 
There was no doubt that the foundations were 
slowly subsiding, and speculation was rife as to the 
cause. With a view to ascertaining the state of 
the foundations, excavations were made. It was 
discovered that the original builders had rested them 
on marshy ground, strengthened with oak piles, 
[ 397 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

which have gradually decayed during the lapse of 
centuries. At the same time the presence of an 
underground stream, thought to be part of the 
river Itchen, was seen to be bubbling up through 
the gravel, saturating the upper soil of peat. 

In much the same way as the site of St. Paul's 
Cathedral in London probably was covered, in the 
first instance, with buildings for pagan worship, so 
we find that the Romans at Winchester erected 
temples to Apollo and Concord upon the ground 
that eventually came to be the precincts of the 
Cathedral. The presence of a Christian church 
appears to have been in the third century, when 
the city is said to have become one of the chief 
centres of the Christian Britons. This first church, 
however, was destroyed during the persecution of 
Aurelian and was rebuilt in 293, to be made a 
wreck in 495 by the Saxons, who fired it. What 
with the religious convulsion of England, which, 
with the exception of Kent, fluctuated with the 
rise and fall of circumstances chiefly controlled 
by the policy of kings either heathen at one 
time and Christian at another, or the deposition 
and death of a Christian monarch, caused by one 
more powerful and deeply imbued with heathen- 
ism, the See of Winchester does not appear to 
have come into existence till about the middle 

[398] 




WINCHESTER 

THE NORTH AISLE 



WINCHESTER 

of the seventh century. The establishment of 
its bishopric in a way marks the commencement 
of a new epoch in the English Church. 

The mission of St. Augustine, backed with the 
royal countenance of Ethelbert, had, though not 
completed, done much towards conversion ; but on 
their death practically the whole of the Christian 
territory, excepting Kent, relapsed into heathenism, 
and to such an extent that Augustine's successor, 
Laurentius, was on the point of giving up the whole 
mission and taking refuge in Gaul. Not until 625 
did a mission again venture forth from the Kentish 
kingdom, and then their tentative efforts were 
rendered abortive by the battle of Hatfield in 1633, 
which for a while seems to have crushed all hope 
at Rome. But a couple of years later an independ- 
ent missionary, Birinus, was consecrated in Italy, 
and was sent by the people to make fresh attempts 
to break down the barriers of heathenism in Eng- 
land. Through his influence Cynegils became the 
first Christian king of the West Saxons. To in- 
augurate his conversion the monarch decided to 
establish a bishopric, and immediately began to 
collect materials for building, at his capital of Win- 
chester, a cathedral, which was eventually con- 
structed by his son Cenwahl in 646. The Danes 
in 867 broke up the establishment, and the year 
26 [ 401 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

following, secular priests were substituted. They 
remained till 963, when Ethelwold, by command 
of King Edgar, expelled them to make room for 
the monks of the Benedictine Order from Abendon. 
They enjoyed uninterrupted possession, and were 
richly endowed with royal donations, as the dis- 
solution revealed the extent of its revenue. Henry 
VIII. then refounded it for a bishop, dean, chan- 
cellor, twelve prebendaries, and other subordinate 
officers. The Cathedral was first dedicated to St. 
Amphibalus, then jointly to St. Peter and St. Paul, 
and afterwards to St. Swithin, once bishop here. 
With Henry VIII. 's regime the title was altered to 
the Holy and undivided Trinity. The church of 
Cynegils having become entirely ruined, a new 
cathedral was commenced in 1073-98 by Bishop 
Walkelyn. The two Norman transepts and the 
low central tower, as also the very early crypt, still 
exist. The church is a spacious, massive, and 
splendid cruciform building of Norman architec- 
ture with subsequent additions in the Gothic style. 
The whole of the Norman nave was demolished 
and re-erected on a far grander scale by William 
of Wykeham at the end of the fourteenth century, 
though not quite completed till after his death. 
The choir was much restored in the fourteenth 
century, whilst it underwent considerable alteration 
[402] 




OS « 

H 2 

CO «; 

u 5 



WINCHESTER 

by Bishop Fox from 1 510 to 1528. Here is the 
tomb of William II. A great feature is the mag- 
nificent reredos behind the altar. It extends the 
full width of the choir, with two processional en- 
trances pierced through its lofty wall, and covered 
with tier upon tier of rich canopied niches. 
They once contained colossal statues. Behind this 
reredos there is a second stone screen, which 
enclosed the small chapel in which stood the 
magnificent gold shrine studded with jewels. It 
contained the body of St. Swithin, and was the 
gift of King Edgar. The Cathedral, in fact, re- 
ceived at one time and another great treasures 
of gold and jewels by many of the early kings 
of England. Canute is said to have caused his 
crown of gold and gems to be suspended over 
the great crucifix above the high altar. 

The magnificent chantry of Cardinal Beaufort is 
of the Later style of English architecture. Bishop 
Waynfleet's chantry is in the same style, and has 
been kept in excellent repair by the trustees of his 
foundation at Magdalene College. Both chantries 
contain tombs of their founders. There are sev- 
eral other chapels, all deserving close study of 
their beautiful architecture. The most notable of 
the many examples of mediaeval recumbent effigies 
are those of the monuments to Bishops Edingdon, 
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CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Wykeham, Langton, and Fox. The famous au- 
thoress, Jane Austen, is buried here. 

The black marble font is an interesting relic of 
eleventh-century skill. The sides are composed 
of scenes taken from the life of St. Nicholas. 
The Cathedral, situated in an open space near the 
centre of the city towards the south-east, is a marvel- 
lous combination of beauty and dignity, surpassed, 
if at all, by few. It is the central feature of Win- 
chester, and will always command the greatest 
admiration. One of England's great public schools 
is that founded by William of Wykeham and 
built between 1387 and 1393. The foundation 
originally consisted of a warden, ten fellows, three 
chaplains, seventy scholars, and sixteen choristers. 
The prelate had previously established a school 
here in 1373. Thus the oldest of England's great 
schools was called " Seinte Marie College of Wyn- 
chester," the charter of which was dated October 
1382. The ancient statutes were revived in 1855, 
and were still further influenced by the Public 
Schools Act of 1868. The establishment has a 
fine chapel, hall, cloister, and other necessary build- 
ings, all in excellent preservation. Another inter- 
esting structure is that afforded by the hospital of 
St. Cross, founded in 11 36 by Henry de Blois, 
Bishop of Winchester. It lies about a mile out of 
[406] 




WINCHESTER 

FROM THE DEANERY GARDEN 



WINCHESTER 

town. Its general plan can be readily seen by a 
glance at Mr. Collins' drawing. Henry de Blois 
intended it to provide board and lodging for thir- 
teen poor men, and a daily dinner for one hundred 
others. It was mostly rebuilt by Cardinal Beau- 
fort between 1405 and 1447. The whole has 
undergone much restoration, which was not en- 
tirely happy, though it has certainly kept the 
buildings in a good state of preservation. On the 
precincts is also the very stately cruciform chapel, 
dating roughly from the year 1 1 80. The city of 
Winchester was at one time proverbial for its splen- 
dour, which was owing to the many kings that 
preferred to reside within its walls than elsewhere. 
Mainly owing to its central position on the high 
roads in the south of England, Winchester was 
from early times a town of great importance. This 
Hampshire city is first ascribed to the Celtic 
Britons, who settled here in 392 B. c, having 
emigrated from the coasts of Armorica in Gaul. 
They remained in undisturbed possession till within 
a century prior to the Christian era, when they 
were expelled by the Belgae, who advanced from 
their settlements on the southern coasts into the 
interior. Soon after it had become the capital of 
the Belgae, the settlement passed into Roman oc- 
cupation. The Coer Gwent (White City) of the 
[409 ] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Britons became the Venta Belgarum of the Romans. 
The Roman word Venta eventually became trans- 
formed to " Winte," " Winte-ceaster," from which 
was derived Winchester. Under Cedric, about 
520 a. d., it became the capital of the West Saxons, 
and of England in 827 by Egbert. He had ob- 
tained the sovereignty of all the other kingdoms 
of the Octarchy, and was crowned sole monarch 
in the Cathedral of Winchester. On this occasion 
the monarch published an edict commanding all 
his subjects throughout his dominions to be called 
English. The union of the kingdoms gave that 
importance to Winchester which it had never had 
previously, and the fact of being not only the 
capital of Wessex, but the metropolis of England, 
caused it to leap into great prominence. This 
state, however, suffered a severe check when 
London, in the reign of William the Conqueror, 
began to rival it, and was brought almost to the 
verge of ruin through the dissolution of the 
monasteries by Henry VIII. However, at differ- 
ent periods, Winchester received much unwelcome 
discomfiture. It was seized by the Danes in 871 ; 
whilst in 1013 it was ravaged by Sweyn on his 
path of vengeance. In 1 100 the body of William 
Rufus was solemnly interred in the Cathedral. 
During the parliamentary war the city was taken 
[410] 



(( 




WINCHESTER 

and retaken by Cromwell, and the castle dis- 
mantled. Here it was that Charles I. commis- 
sioned Wren to build a palace in 1683, which was 
only begun. Previous to this the plague of 1666 
greatly reduced the number of inhabitants, and it 
was possibly to help the city recover itself that 
Charles thought of building a palace. 

Though the great regal prosperity has long since 
departed, the many old houses and the great extent 
of the city still bear testimony to the once great 
importance of Winchester. 



[413] 



OF the three cathedrals in London, West- 
minster Abbey may be said to possess the 
greatest charms. Compared to it St. Paul's 
is a new church, whilst St. Saviour's, Southwark, 
is little known. It is true that the foundation of 
St. Paul's is coeval with that of the Abbey, 
and St. Saviour's is an old church, but St. Paul's 
dates from the Great Fire of London, and the 
merit of its architecture is the wonderful genius 
of Wren. In more ways than one Westminster 
is bound up with the history of the great empire. 
Within her precincts repose the greater number 
of reigning heads who inaugurated their reigns 
in the sacred interior with the coronation, a cere- 
mony which was last performed when our pres- 
ent king came to the throne, though the last 
monarch to be laid to rest in the venerable pile 
ceased with the interment of King George II. 
in 1760. 

The Abbey is also the favourite sepulture for 
eminent statesmen, poets, authors, and great travel- 
[4H] 



WESTMINSTER 

lers, — men whose intellects have done far more 
for the wonderful rise of Great Britain than the 
average crowned head, men whose ability and 
personality in many cases were little understood 
during life, preyed upon, as is often the case, by 
others who could turn it to good pecuniary 
account. But when death claims them, the nation, 
sensible of their loss, pay homage by interring 
the remains in the noble sepulchre of a cathedral, 
or perpetuate the memory by an epitaph on the 
wall. 

To wander around the Poets' Corner along the 
echoing aisles, and stand in front of each memorial 
and read off the few cold lines that seem a 
mockery to regard as a record of some mighty 
intellect, serve only to awaken the imagination 
and to recall their sad biographies read at one time 
or another. Were Chaucer, Shakespeare, Spenser, 
Dryden, Milton, Oliver Goldsmith, Handel, Thack- 
eray, David Garrick, to mention only a few, ever 
made peers, much less knights ? No ; yet many of 
their contemporaries of inferior intellect enjoyed 
such worldly distinction. To stand in the pres- 
ence of the great dead, or in lieu to read their 
epitaphs, casts a great fascination over the mind, 
and makes one linger within the precincts of the 
historic abbey till a rude awakening comes from 
[415] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

the verger that it is closing-time. With a sigh 
we emerge from the great mausoleum into the 
hard, glaring daylight, for a few seconds dazed. 
The fascination still clings to us, and when we get 
home we are eager to consult authorities and learn 
more of the beautiful church at Westminster. 

The Abbey, like nearly all our great cathedrals, 
is the growth of centuries. Looking at it under 
present-day conditions, we can hardly realise 
that in the dim past the site was an island of dry 
sand and gravel, bound on the one side by the 
river Thames, and on the other by marshes watered 
by the little stream called the Eye. This stream 
still runs, though out of sight, under New Bond 
Street, the Green Park, and Buckingham Palace, 
to empty itself into the Thames near Vauxhall 
Bridge, and has lent its name to Tyburn (Th' Eye 
Burn). In the early years of the seventh century, 
possibly within a few months of his restoring the 
church on the site of St. Paul's, which would take 
us back to about the year 61 o, Sebert, the King of 
the East Saxons, decided to build a church to the 
honour of St. Peter on this Isle of Thorns, or, as it 
is sometimes called, Thorney Island. The fact of 
the vicinity being westward of the neighbouring 
hill of St. Paul's eventually gave rise to the name 
of Westminster. According to tradition, on the 
[416] 



WESTMINSTER 

eve of the new church being consecrated by Bishop 
Mellitus, the boatman Edric, whilst attending to 
his nets by the bank of the island, was attracted by 
a gleaming light on the opposite shore. Rowing 
across, he found a venerable man, who desired to 
be ferried over. On landing at the island, the 
mysterious stranger proceeded towards the church, 
accompanied by a host of angels, who gave him 
light by candles as he went through the forms of 
church consecration. On his return to the boat, 
the old man bade Edric tell Mellitus that St. Peter 
had come in person to consecrate the church, and 
promised him that fish would always come plenti- 
fully to his nets, provided he did not work on a 
Sunday and did not forget to offer a tithe of that 
which he caught to the Abbey of Westminster. 
On the morrow, Mellitus, hearing the fisherman's 
story, confirmed by the marks of consecration in the 
chrism, the crosses on the doors, and the droppings 
from the candles of the angels, acknowledged the 
work of St. Peter as sufficient consecration, and 
changed the name from Thorney Island to West- 
minster, to distinguish it as being to the west 
of the city of London and to the Church of 
St. Paul's on the neighbouring hill. However 
incredible Edric's story may be it bore fruit, in 
that till 1382 a tithe of fish was paid by the 
27 [417] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Thames fisherman to the Abbey, in exchange for 
which the bearer had the privilege to sit, on that 
day, at the Abbot's table, and to ask for bread and 
ale from the cellarman. By degrees the neigh- 
bourhood became peopled, partly on account of the 
church and partly from the erection of a palace 
close to it, which led the nobility to build houses 
in the vicinity. The Abbey, becoming ruinous 
through the Danes, was rebuilt by Edward the 
Confessor as the " Collegiate Church of St. 
Peter at Westminster." In fact this monarch 
is usually regarded as the founder of the Church. 
According to Matthew Paris, it was the first 
cruciform church erected in England, the immense 
size and beauty of which can be seen in the Bayeux 
tapestry. The foundation was laid somewhere 
about 1052, and the church was consecrated in 
1065, a few days prior to the Confessor's death. 
The monastery was filled with monks from Exeter, 
whilst Pope Nicholas II. constituted the Abbey 
for the inauguration of the kings of England. 
Throughout the succession of reigning heads, 
Edward V., who died uncrowned, was the only 
exception. 

Of the Confessor's church and monastery the 
only remains appear to be the Chapel of the Pyx, 
the lower part of the refectory below the West- 
[418] 




3m£ 



WESTMINSTER 

minster schoolroom, a portion of the dormitory, 
and the walls of the south cloister. 

The Abbey, with these few exceptions, was 
demolished and rebuilt on a magnificent scale by 
Henry III. between i 220 and 1 269. The material 
employed was first a green stone and afterwards 
Caen stone. The portions that remain to us from 
that rebuilding are the Confessor's chapel, the side 
aisles and their chapels, and the choir and transepts, 
all beautiful examples of the Geometrical Pointed 
period of architecture. Henry's work was con- 
tinued by his son Edward I., who added the 
eastern portion of the nave after the same style; it 
was afterwards carried on by successive abbots till 
the erection of the great west window by Abbot 
Estney in 1498. The College Hall, the Abbot's 
House, Jerusalem Chamber, and part of the 
cloisters had also in the meantime been added by 
Abbot Littlington in 1380. Amongst various im- 
provements Henry VII. built the west end of the 
nave, his own chapel, the deanery, and portions 
of the cloisters in the Perpendicular style. 

The choir, a fine specimen of Early English 
with decorations added in the fourteenth century, 
is where the coronation of English sovereigns 
takes place, and contains the tombs of Sebert, 
King of the East Angles, Anne of Cleves, and 
[421] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Leicester. Henry 
VII. 's chapel displays the architect's skill to per- 
fection, with the wonderful fretted work of the 
roof and the graceful fan-tracery. It contains 
the glorious tomb of Henry VII., the work of the 
great sculptor Pietro Torrigiano. It is composed 
chiefly of black marble with figures and pilasters 
of gilt copper. The figures once wore crowns, but 
some sacrilegious hands have stolen them. In the 
chapel of Edward the Confessor are the shrine of 
Edward the Confessor in Purbeck marble, the 
altar-tomb of Edward I., the coronation chairs of 
the English sovereigns, besides the stone of Scone, 
the old coronation seat of the Scottish kings. The 
beautiful chapels of St. Benedict, St. Edmund, St. 
Nicholas, St. Paul, St. Erasmus, and St. John the 
Baptist chiefly contain the monuments of ecclesias- 
tics and nobility. 

The entrance generally used is the North Porch, 
known as Solomon's Porch. It was erected in 
the reign of Richard II., but entirely changed its 
character in the hands of Wren, who appears not 
to have appreciated the beauties of Gothic archi- 
tecture. The same architect is said to have built 
the two western towers, though they are sometimes 
ascribed to his pupil Hawksmoor. Wren's work 
upon the north porch was again altered by Sir 
[422] 



WESTMINSTER 

G. G. Scott, who introduced the present triple 
portico. On passing under it we come to the 
north transept, generally known as the Statesmen's 
Aisle. Here in the same grave lie the Earl of 
Chatham and his famous son, William Pitt. Close 
to them are either the graves or monuments of 
Fox, Castlereagh, Grattan, Palmerston, Peel, the 
three Cannings, and Disraeli. Right in the centre 
of the aisle is a slab marking the resting-place of 
W. E. Gladstone and his wife (1898 and 1900), 
over whom unconsciously the people tread, gradually 
wearing out the simple words of memorial. The 
south transept is the Poets' Corner, containing the 
memorials from Chaucer to Ruskin. In the nave 
lie David Livingstone (1873), a g reat missionary 
and traveller, whose remains were reverently 
brought from Central Africa ; Robert Stephenson 
(1859), the famous engineer; Sir Charles Barry 
(i860), architect of the Houses of Parliament; 
Sir G. G. Scott (1873); George Edmund Street 
(1881), architect of the Law Courts; Colin 
Campbell; Lord Clyde (1863), who recaptured 
Lucknow. We have mentioned these names, not 
for the sake of invidiousness, but have chosen them 
at random. 

Leading from the cloisters up a flight of stone 
steps is the Chapter House. The original struc- 
[423] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

ture was built by King Edward in the eleventh 
century, and it is noticeable in that it departed 
from the usual Benedictine form. In 1250 it was 
rebuilt by Henry III., and is an octagonal struc- 
ture, second only to that at Lincoln in size. Here 
the monks were accustomed once a week to hold 
their chapters. In ornamental stalls opposite the 
entrance the Abbot and his four chief officers were 
enthroned, whilst the monks ranged themselves 
along the stone benches which go around the 
walls. Criminals were tried, and if found guilty 
were tied up to the central pillar of Purbeck 
marble (thirty-five feet high) and were flogged pub- 
licly. The monks, however, were not left in undis- 
turbed possession of the Chapter House, for on the 
separation of the Houses of Lords and Commons 
in the reign of Edward I., the House of Commons 
held sittings here and continued to do so till 
1547. The last parliament held here was on the 
day that Henry VIII. died, when it sat to discuss 
the Act of Attainder passed upon the Duke of 
Norfolk. At the dissolution of the monastery 
the Chapter House passed to the Crown, and 
seven years afterwards the House of Commons 
removed to St. Stephen's Chapel in the Palace of 
Westminster. 

From that time the Chapter House was used as 
[424] 



WESTMINSTER 

a Record Office till the removal of the records in 
1865 to the Rolls House. 

There are now two or three glass cases filled 
with interesting ancient deeds and illuminated 
parchments relating to the history of the Abbey. 
Adjoining the Abbey is the great public school of 
Westminster, or St. Peter's College as it was called 
when founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1560 for the 
education of forty boys, denominated the Queen's 
scholars, and prepared for the university. Since 
then the numbers have greatly increased, and to 
have been educated there is something to boast of, 
for it is so much sought after that preference is 
given to the sons of old Westminster boys. We 
might go on for ever, so vast is the subject-matter, 
but before closing we would draw attention to 
St. Margaret's Church, which stands in front of 
Solomon's Porch. It was founded by the Con- 
fessor, and is the especial church of the House 
of Commons. Curiously enough, it gives scale 
to the whole Abbey. The Houses of Parliament 
are across the road to the east of the Abbey and 
on the bank of the river Thames. In the Tudor 
style Sir Charles Barry, R.A., built the New 
Palace of Westminster, containing the two Houses 
of Parliament (1 840-1 859). It is a stupendous 
work and a marvellous mass of rich architecture. 
[425] 



CATHEDRAL CITIES 

Some authority states that the clock tower is much 
after the style of the belfry at Bruges. This state- 
ment, we would point out, is hardly correct. The 
two no more resemble each other than do black 
and white. 

How is it possible to describe in a few cold 
words the wonderful beauties that lie hidden in 
the architecture of the Abbey, the best artistic 
expressions of its several architects ? Impressions 
created depend upon the temperament of the in- 
dividual who gazes upon them. All acknowledge 
the great beauty, but each from his own standpoint, 
according to his tastes and inclinations, which are 
moulded by his pursuits in life, or more rarely 
endowed by that inherent sense of all that is noble 
and refined he is enabled to sink his own individ- 
uality for a moment, and to enjoy the brain- 
product of a fellow-being. To the dull intellect 
the Abbey appeals as a mystery; to the commer- 
cial man it represents so much outlay of capital, 
and a proud possession of the empire's city ; to 
the poet and artist the memorials must recall the 
wonderful lines of Longfellow : 

" Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime " ; 

to the architect a marvellous insight into the great 
possibilities offered by architecture ; to the musician 

[426] 



WESTMINSTER 

the ambition to create a great composition that 
will be worthy to echo throughout the lofty and 
beautiful aisles, whose music is so unconsciously 
based upon those laws of harmony which should 
exist in architecture, sculpture, painting, and 
literature. 



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